


Beast Wars

by Copper Clouds (Isthia)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Gen, Prostitution, Undercover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-05 16:53:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 210,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isthia/pseuds/Copper%20Clouds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sent from the village into the safety of obscurity, Naruto is raised with vastly different ideas of how life should be. When his happy existence undercover is destroyed, he'll stop at nothing to eliminate the threat that stole him from the world he prefers over the one he is being shunted toward.<br/>But the demon fox in his belly has another plan for him and a bargain he can't refuse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I began writing this during NaNoWriMo 2011. I felt it was time to let the first chapter be exposed.
> 
> As always, I only own my Original Characters (who are only prevalent at the beginning, if you're worried) and the chain of events. Everything else is of course the property of Naruto's writer and publishers.
> 
> This is rated for violence and mentions of prostitution and drug use.
> 
> This story addresses what I consider a plot hole in canon: how Sarutobi would allow Naruto to grow up so mistreated in a village without any training in being a jinchuuriki when he understood that Minato had left Naruto as insurance. The blind optimism that apparently fueled Sarutobi's decision to leave the immense power of the Kyuubi in Naruto's downtrodden hands when Naruto could have easily come to hate the village sparked this alternative in me.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped pressing against the invisible barrier only because it ceased to exist. He stumbled forward a few steps, his knees aching.

He was too old for this bullshit.

The baby was screaming, wailing for the milk and comfort his cooling mother was no longer in a position to give. Hiruzen's subordinates immediately went to their fallen Yondaime's side, though some turned to his wife. Hiruzen alone went to the baby lying in the middle of the smoking candles.

Golden fuzz hinted that the child followed more closely in his father's footsteps than his mother's. The whisker marks pointed to the child having shared his mother's body with the beast now sharing his. An unfortunate tell.

Hiruzen scooped the child up and signalled that his shadows attend him. Two flitted away from the Yondaime's bloody corpse to stand just behind him.

"Gather what personnel you can and search neighbouring villages and beyond, but not Konoha, for a woman capable of breastfeeding this boy alongside her own child if necessary. Preference will be given to a mother without a child to compete with him. Find a bottle of breast-milk for him in the meantime, even if you have to plunder Kushina's corpse. He needs sustenance if he's going to live. Present a list to me within three days. We do not have much time to settle him before the chaos clears enough that people begin asking questions. Minato-sama sacrificed his son. It is our job to see that my successor's gamble pays off."

The shadows disappeared.

The baby continued to howl.

Sighing, Hiruzen began the trek back to the office he had given up to the promising young man who would begin to rot soon.

* * *

Jiraiya was in Lightning when the message caught up with him.

The toad shuffled uncomfortably as the legendary ninja, once part of a trio of legendary ninjas, buried his face in his palms and started crying.

* * *

The Sandaime concluded several things when ANBU agents finished reporting what little they had managed to gather from the place he had sent Uzumaki Kushina to give birth.

The first rattled him. His wife was dead.

The urge to shake and rage like a much younger man blazed through him, but time had given him external calm many found frightening. This calm just left him sick and exhausted and alone. How was he going to tell his sons?

The world was not kind to shaken fathers, because there were further details to ponder.

The guards that should have prevented Biwako's murderer's entry were dead as well, having been found after their corpses bobbed to the surface of the river further downstream. The med-nin that had been assigned to assist Biwako was also dead.

That meant there were no witnesses.

Hiruzen was not alive at his ripe old age by being unsuspicious and naive. If there were no witnesses, it was likely that was intentional.

This implied that Kyuubi had not broken out on his own since all these murdered witnesses were in no way singed or showed any other signs that implied the Kyuubi had been behind their death. That implied a third party since Sarutobi would not even pause to consider the possibility Kushina or Minato had murdered their attendants. Inuzuka ANBU had verified a foreign scent's presence in the cave.

This third party had apparently been involved in events that had broken Kyuubi free of Kushina and left little Naruto an orphan. Minato had willingly put the Kyuubi in his son after bearing loving witness to the suffering it had inflicted on the wife he adored instead of allowing his dying wife to take the Kyuubi with her.

Hiruzen was certain that this third party was a major threat and probably the lynchpin behind all this death. He was also cautiously assuming that Minato had left Naruto Kyuubi as insurance.

Dangerous insurance.

The boy would need guarding before being able to cash in on his father's parting gift.

In the end, Hiruzen had the uneasy feeling that his concern over the stress on the seal from childbirth had played right into the third party's hands.

But this implied that the third party had known about Kyuubi in Kushina, had known about the seal's weakness, and had somehow seen use in something as wild as Kyuubi.

That cave had been a long way from Konoha. And no one had seen or sensed the beast approaching until it had been on the wrong side of Konoha's wall.

It was as if the Yondaime had teleported it there or it had been _summoned_ there, since the former was as likely as the moon being made of cheese and Hiruzen being able to convince his unruly younger son that smoking cigarettes was not something you should start doing in order to show your pipe-smoking father how behind the times he was. Hiruzen rubbed his eyes. The list of people that could control the Kyuubi and summon it so stealthily from _inside_ Konoha without alerting the barrier team to a foreign presence was very short, so short indeed that it should be nonexistent.

Naruto started snivelling, stirring in the basket Hiruzen had dug out of his attic. The Hokage made a beckoning motion, and a snake-masked agent appeared before him and passed him a bottle of milk.

"And what if he's unhappy about his diaper instead? Will you assist me with that as well?"

With a snort, the agent disappeared.

Hiruzen chuckled.

The disturbing thought that if Uchiha Madara was still somehow alive despite all expectations, how he had figured out that Kushina was the new vessel and when and where she would be at her weakest nagged at him.

A traitor in their midst wasn't an implication Hiruzen was comfortable with.

* * *

Rat–12 stumbled back into Konoha around midnight, passing over the wall gracelessly. Despite the hour, he headed straight for the Hokage Monument and climbed the cliff to stand in front of ANBU headquarters. The two Boar agents standing guard at the door quizzed him briefly before letting him pass. He faced the same ordeal twice more as he made his way deeper into the warren that ANBU maintained.

Dragon–1 looked up from his paperwork when Rat finally knelt before him. "So?"

Rat raised his head to attempt to read his faceless leader. "I've found a prostitute who might suit. Her child…"

"Aborted?"

Rat shrugged. "But very late. She claims miscarriage. Rumour has it that she was beaten late in her third trimester and that it killed the baby. In any case, she's desperate for money, knows how to keep her mouth shut, and is miraculously clean of disease for the most part, though I suspect warts or herpes. She's new to her trade, though she's been exposed to it for a long time. Money would motivate her to be mobile. She's lactating, so she should suit."

Dragon–1 nodded. "Her name and location, for the list."

"Mae, no clan name apparently, from Tanzaku Gai's pleasure district." He shuffled, torn between curiosity and weariness. "How long is the list?"

"Ten so far. Quite a few have yet to report in. All of them have one flaw or another. Go get some rest."

* * *

Hiruzen inspected the list. Forty names with their locations and their circumstances graced the paper. Some women had other children. Others were bound to a husband, which would make things complicated. One more person to hold the secret, to weaken the security of the secret. No, a husband was not acceptable. Neither were other children, as they were just as likely to blab, if less likely to need to be told the whole story.

That shortened the list to three candidates. One widow woman had lost her child to health problems her village physician had been unable to handle. A woman deep in grief would benefit from Naruto's happy manners, but she had family who would ask questions. Yet another impossibility. The second was a prostitute. Not a particularly happy placing for Naruto, since the agent had marked the woman as crass and ill tempered, but she was alone in the world.

The last woman lived with her brother.

Hiruzen glanced at Naruto, who was drooling in his sleep. "My poor boy, it looks like the whore is your best choice. You and I will have to be quiet about this though. My teammates and Danzou want me to keep you here, where you'll be protected and forever watched. We cannot chance it though, little man. Who is to say that you being here, in the midst of anger and grief, would be better for you? No, best you escape with a guard strong in the way of disguise and secrecy. Someone who can help you escape the fastest is best because fighting Uchiha Madara is not an option if he really did survive his battle with Shodaime-sama."

Naruto snoozed on, oblivious.

Hiruzen cocked a finger, and a Ram agent appeared before him. "Bring Dragon–1 to me. Tell him to bring along the roster of spies and scouts."

* * *

Dragon–1 spread the lists out before his newly reinstated Hokage, but the old man focused on him instead.

"Who's the best at hiding?"

"Conventional hiding?" asked Dragon.

"Hiding and blending in, maintaining cover."

Dragon pointed at Rat–12, 67, 173, Snake–5, 17, Monkey–12, and 25.

"Which of those is the best at escaping?"

Dragon eliminated Rat–173 and Snake–17.

"Who is the best at extending these skills to another person?"

Dragon eliminated Rat–12, Snake–5, and Monkey–25.

"Which of those that remain is the most loyal, the best, the most fit to be a guardian to two for years?"

Dragon hesitated. He pointed at Rat–67 at last. "He's unattached, so his absence from Konoha won't be as big a deal as it would for the others. He's respectable but has no experience as a guardian save for the occasional guarding mission and his 'mother hen' role in any team. Is this for…?" He glanced at Naruto.

The Sandaime nodded, having been able to see the motion through the eye slits in Dragon's mask.

"Then I would suggest one other."

"Who?"

"The boy who possesses the lost element."

The Sandaime frowned for a moment before he worked it out and grinned. "A wise idea, however little I like the idea of sending him out there."

"The village is not the ideal environment for him in his orphaned and experimental state, given how we keep him in ANBU. Playing older brother would help him adjust, maybe."

Sarutobi-sama nodded. "I'll check in with his therapist. Otherwise, bring Rat–67 before me and make sure that Inoichi is on standby. I can't take any risks. Someone knew about Kushina. We must ensure that secrecy will be absolute until the boy is strong enough that delivering him to his godfather will not be a hasty move."

Dragon gathered up his scrolls and saluted. "I'll ensure that the Uchiha know nothing of the move."

"The Uchiha?" Sarutobi-sama was frowning.

"Whispers have been going around that many of the Uchiha adults were missing the night of the attack. Also, one of my agents noted that Uchiha Mikoto was the only person Uzumaki Kushina-sama spoke to before leaving the village with Biwako-sama. The Kyuubi has long been a symbol of their strength."

The Hokage looked troubled when he dismissed Dragon–1 without another word.

* * *

_The Uchiha are suspect?_ Hiruzen couldn't say he was surprised; the Uchiha did flaunt their association with fire. However, Uchiha Madara had split from the Uchiha that remained in Konoha, spiting their refusal to help him rebel. His hatred for them was probably only second to his hatred for the Shodaime. Would he have set aside that hatred for the chance to reclaim the Kyuubi? The scent had been foreign though. He would have to make sure the Inuzuka ANBU went through the Uchiha area. Scents could be masked, but at least this would give a bit more certainty.

All this speculation of course begged the question of what on earth Madara wanted with Kyuubi. The obvious answer was the destruction of Konoha. It was likely, but Hiruzen felt that for all the symbolism of stealing back a lost weapon and unleashing it on the very place that had laid claim to it, it didn't seem to be enough. Uchiha Madara had been powerful enough to carve a valley when he had clashed with Shodaime-sama. He was capable of levelling Konoha without Kyuubi.

"Little man, did the man who interrupted your birth say anything to you about why he had gone to all this trouble?"

Naruto only whimpered for a diaper change.

* * *

Takashi rolled his shoulder nervously as he peered out from behind his rat mask at the sparse details the mission scroll provided him.

_Duration: five to ten years_

_Breaks: none permitted_

_Location: Fire (absolute location yet to be decided)_

_Essential Skills: child rearing, undercover operation techniques, further skills to be disclosed later_

_Team Size: four_

_Client: Yondaime and Sandaime Hokage_

It was strange that the Yondaime claimed to be requesting this mission when he had died four days ago and the mission had been logged as of that morning. Takashi supposed that meant it was being done according to the Yondaime's will or it aided his former purposes. The Sandaime and the Council were the only ones with enough authority to legally tack his name onto this mission, not that anyone but the Council, ANBU, and the Hokage would ever see the details of this top secret mission.

"Well?" said Dragon–1.

"Sir, this is very secret?"

"Very. You are not allowed to discuss this mission with anyone other than me and the Sandaime Hokage."

The Council was not allowed to be involved. That made Takashi nervous because that meant that if the Sandaime also died, this mission would have no one heading it and the only one aware of its existence would be the team and Dragon–1. "Is it very important to the wellbeing of the village?"

Dragon–1 paused. "I am betting so, though I think it will take many years for the true extent of the mission's importance to become obvious. Sandaime-sama better understands the particulars. I need to mention that if you accept this mission, you will be undergoing a deep scan by the Interrogation Commander."

So it was _very_ important. And _very_ secret.

Takashi gulped silently. "May I have a day to consider it?"

"Six hours," Dragon–1 said grudgingly. "There isn't much time. Delay only makes things worse."

So it was time sensitive too. Rat–67 handed the mission scroll back, accepted the silencing seal Dragon–1 painted on the back of his hand, and slipped out of the room.

As he wandered out of the warren of ANBU headquarters and along the top of the Hokage Monument, Takashi considered his options as he carefully kept his silence seal intact: any disturbance of the lines would lead to interrogation. This was obviously a mission he was not allowed to talk about at all. That meant that if he did refuse the mission, he would be seeing a Yamanaka to edit out his knowledge of it.

Scary stuff.

Did he want to throw aside his life in Konoha, such as it was, for the next five to ten years? He wasn't unused to long missions, but the longest he had been out of the village at a stretch had been two years on an undercover mission in Lightning. When he had gotten back, it had taken months to reconnect with his friends, never mind his former teammates. It would be at least twice as bad when he returned if he accepted this mission.

No doubt, his crush, Hyuuga Sora, would be bound in marriage with children by then, not that she reciprocated at all.

ANBU agents didn't have personal lives, for the most part. He'd heard Snake–28 telling the Hatake kid that once in the mess hall shortly after the kid had claimed a dog mask. The fact that Snake–28 was a conniving old bitch didn't make her words any less true.

Sighing, Takashi headed back inside, only eighteen minutes of his six hours used up. The rest of his time could be spent figuring out what to do with his worldly belongings and his apartment. ANBU would handle his landlord, either by paying off his rent until his contract ran out by subletting his place or by terminating his lease early. His stuff could go into storage or be sold off. Takashi was leaning towards the latter since the chances he would come back with the same tastes were slim.

He'd learned after his last mission that returning to his reclaimed and refurnished apartment hadn't been the same as coming home. All his trappings had felt odd, as though they belonged in a museum. It had been a disconcerting experience.

He had every intention of avoiding it this time by selling everything except his photo albums.

* * *

Takashi swayed slightly in his chair as Yamanaka Inoichi shut the door behind himself.

Sandaime-sama was watching him with a pitying and proud expression. "Thank you for enduring that. I suspect a spy, so I had to be sure."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi-sama clapped his hands, and a genjutsu dissolved, revealing that a collection of three cushions carefully stacked in the far corner of the office was instead a basket. The old Hokage shuffled across the room to collect the wicker contraption, revealing that a baby with blond fuzz lay nestled amidst the blankets it contained.

Rat–67 suddenly understood why Yondaime-sama was considered in on this mission. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted, Takashi-kun."

He relaxed slightly. "What are the whisker marks from?"

"It was not widely known, but Uzumaki Kushina-sama was Senju Mito's successor. Both women had the Kyuubi sealed inside them, making them what are commonly called jinchuuriki. Children carried in jinchuuriki seem to inevitably carry some mark of their unusual confinement. Mito-sama's child bore similar marks. Kyuubi escaped from Kushina-sama somehow during her delivery of Naruto, which happened outside of the village because giving birth weakened the seal used on Kyuubi. Unfortunately, the events you know of came to pass, and the Yondaime and his wife are no longer with us. I witnessed them sealing Kyuubi into their son, Uzumaki Naruto."

Takashi glanced at the boy as the Sandaime pulled aside the blanket to reveal the babe's belly. The Hokage somehow pushed chakra through the boy's system, revealing a dark seal around the bellybutton, which still had some dried umbilical cord attached to it.

"Someone brought Kyuubi into Konoha. Someone murdered everyone at the birth except for Kushina-sama, Minato-sama, and Naruto-kun here, our sole true survivor. That someone found out about the secret birth despite all our efforts and security. We must get Naruto-kun out of Konoha and safely hidden.

"You were selected because this mission is not about fighting; it is about hiding this boy and ensuring he grows up well enough. You will lead this mission and do whatever it takes to make it succeed."

"What happens to the boy when the mission ends?"

"He will go to his godfather, Jiraiya. I would send him to him now, but it is likely that Jiraiya will be watched, given the close ties between him and Minato-sama. Putting them together at this point isn't wise."

"So you don't want him to enter the Academy?"

"At the moment, no. Our security has been severely breached. I cannot see Konoha as a safe place any longer, not for the bearer of the Kyuubi. Yes, the attacker waited until Kushina-sama was outside our walls, but I do not know if that was because that was where she was giving birth or if our defences were what warned him off. I suspect the former given how Kyuubi was likely summoned into the village. Naruto-kun, being a man, will never suffer the weakness of childbirth, so his seal will remain strong. It is in the assailant's best interest to kill him as soon as possible and wait for Kyuubi to escape death. That or drive Naruto into losing himself to Kyuubi."

"So," said Takashi carefully, struggling to keep up, "for the first few years, I should expect assassination, while later on I should expect someone to brainwash Naruto-kun into voiding the seal somehow?"

"Or giving in to rage. Mito-sama and Kushina-sama noted that darker emotions tended to weaken them to Kyuubi's influence." The Sandaime settled the blanket back over Naruto when the babe protested the cold. "Now, the team. You will have another agent with you. Tenzou-kun is young enough that he will be able to act as an elder brother to the boy. Better still, Tenzou-kun carries the same genetic skills that Shodaime-sama did in almost all respects, save that his strength with these gifts doesn't compare."

"So you hope he'll be able to exert some control over Kyuubi if Naruto does start losing himself."

"Exactly, Takashi-kun. You are quick to catch on. Good. Now, your other teammate is less reliable than Tenzou-kun, unfortunately, but she is absolutely necessary, at least for a few months."

"A few months… A milk mother."

"Exactly. Mae-san is a … courtesan from Tanzaku Gai. She has lost her own child, but she still is producing milk, so she will be able to wean Naruto-kun. Her loyalty is unfortunately only through money, so you will have to be wary of her. Also, what to do with her after her usefulness is ended is up to you. I ask that you contact Konoha for assistance in this matter only if you deem it absolutely necessary."

In other words, he could terminate her in order to ensure secrecy if he felt bothering with a memory block would be too troublesome. "Have you chosen the location for the mission? Have you selected a cover?"

The Sandaime shook his head. "I've deliberately left that up to you. I would rather that there is no way Konoha can provide leads to where you are. You will be provided with relay seals, so you can communicate directly with Dragon–1 or myself if necessary, but I ask that you use them only in the direst circumstances except for the occasional 'all is well'. You are running this show. Do whatever you must to keep this child safe and raise him to be resourceful as best you can, Takashi-kun. Also, do the same for Tenzou-kun. His upbringing has been very dark. I've assigned him to you in the hope that leaving Konoha will bring some light into his life."

* * *

The boy codenamed Tenzou glanced up from checking his kunai at a knock on his door. "Who is it?"

"Rat–67."

Tenzou struggled to remember which of the many Rat agents 67 was. He failed. "What is it?"

"Mission, Tiger–19. I need you to come with me to a briefing room."

He gathered his kunai back into his pouch, donned his mask, and slid open the door.

Rat–67 was average height, average colouring for a farmer from what little skin Tenzou could see, and of medium build. His mask was primarily inked with green, meaning he worked solo, but there was some of the expected black and red to show he worked as a team captain and a subordinate on occasion. He wore the standard uniform without the cloak. As a Rat agent, the man had to have leadership abilities, so it was odd that he worked primarily solo. It was more common for Monkeys and Snakes to be solo agents, being master spies and master assassins respectively. Other than these observations, Tenzou knew little of the man.

"Come. We're keeping Hokage-sama waiting."

Tenzou hurried now. He was more used to Minato-sama, but Sarutobi-sama was also kind to him, even if it was more of a guilty kindness than Minato-sama's was. He had heard that Orochimaru, the man who had altered him, had been Sarutobi-sama's student, which explained the guilt. Still, if that guilt included candied walnuts and meat buns, Tenzou was not going to complain.

When they slipped into Dragon–1's private briefing room, Sarutobi-sama activated the seals that warded against eavesdropping as a baby in a basket on the table started squirming and wailing. This mission must be very secret. Tenzou had never seen Sarutobi-sama use the seals in his office or in the ANBU briefing rooms before.

"Masks off," said Rat–67, reaching for his own.

"What?" Tenzou was astounded even as he began to obey.

"It is either 'pardon' or 'why', Tenzou-kun," Sarutobi-sama said. "'What' implies that you did not hear the order and is much ruder than 'pardon'."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Rat–67 set his wooden mask on the table and settled in a chair adjacent to the Hokage. Tenzou set his Tiger mask on the table as well and sat in the last chair.

"Tenzou-kun, for this mission, you are being assigned a codename, as is Rat–67. It will be a long mission, so I'm sure you will grow into it. You will both go unmasked. Rat–67 will be your squad leader, and he may change your codename at any point."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Rat slouched in his chair, knitting his fingers together as he set his clasped hands on the table. "Seiichi will be your first name, Tiger–19. I will be Mamoru. The baby shall be called…" He glanced at Sarutobi-sama.

The old man sighed. "Yes, he'll have a different name too."

"I just worry because he's young enough that his codename will stick for him. He won't understand."

"I trust you and Seiichi-kun can explain things to him, Mamoru-kun. He shall be Yuji-kun. Mae-san will need a different name as well."

Rat shuffled slightly, betraying nerves. Seiichi wondered who this Mae-san was and why she was frightening for his team leader. "I will collaborate with her on it. She may not understand the reasoning."

"Very good, Mamoru-kun. Now, Seiichi-kun, the mission is to be a brother to Yuji-kun here. Mamoru-kun will be your father figure, and Mae-san will act as Yuji-kun's mother figure for a time. We're counting on you to teach Yuji-kun how to be a good boy and how to begin to become a good ninja. As a good boy, he must learn how to make friends with boys and girls, learn how to play with them properly, and learn how to respect his elders. As a good ninja, he must know how to be sneaky, be swift, and be strong. Mamoru-kun will help you teach him how to be a good ninja."

Seiichi itched to ask why, why all this, but ANBU was not supposed to know the why. Only the how. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"This mission will last years, so you will have lots of time to get it right." Sarutobi-sama handed over a book. Seiichi took it, resisting the urge to flip through its pages. "This is for you and you alone, unless Mamoru-kun absolutely needs to use it. You must never let Mae-san touch it or know it exists."

"What about Yuji-kun?" asked Rat, glancing at the baby.

"That will be for Seiichi-kun to decide. You may open the book."

Seiichi forced himself to go slowly, inspecting the cover, noting the subtle lines inscribed in the painted canvas cover. "A seal?"

"Yes."

Seiichi now opened the cover and investigated one blank page after another. "A journal?"

"As a cover. I would recommend using it as one to increase your cover as well. Every once in a while, write an entry about your day, in character. Now, repeat after me. Dear Fire, I've been thinking."

"Dear Fire, I've been thinking…?"

Hokage-sama handed him a pencil. "Write it in kanji."

Seiichi carefully scrawled down the kanji, struggling to remember the correct characters.

"No, Seiichi-kun, that one needs to be something different."

Seiichi quickly scratched out the character.

The Hokage shook his head. "No, you'll have to start again. Erase your previous attempt entirely. The words are a sequence that the seal recognizes. They must be written correctly without interruption, or the seal will not activate."

Seiichi made liberal use of his eraser as Mamoru-san and Sarutobi-sama corrected his stroke order. When he finally got the phrase correctly down, the characters were wiped from the page, leaving only the pressure indentations. Sarutobi-sama pulled out a matching book. "Keep writing, Seiichi-kun. Say anything you like."

_I would like to thank Sarutobi-sama for trusting me with this mission. I don't understand why Yuji-kun needs to be hidden._ The words faded from the page, the same way the opening phrase had, though a little slower.

"Are you done?"

Seiichi nodded.

"Now write 'That is a weight off my mind' in katakana. That is the end sequence for the seal."

This time, Seiichi had no trouble. Katakana were easier.

"Now write something simple anywhere on the page, even over where you were writing before."

_Tigers are good fighters._ The words stayed on the page. "Where did my other words go?"

Sarutobi opened his book and showed him the empty pages. He took out a pencil and scribbled three fire characters on the top of his page. Seiichi's words appeared on the first empty line, exactly as he had written them. "For you, the code for getting my messages is a little more complicated. At the top of a page, write 'And what do you think?' in katakana and my reply should appear." Sarutobi-sama turned his book to face him and scrawled a short message. "Go on."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Seiichi watched the Hokage's writing's appear on his page, starting on the first empty line. _Yuji-kun is being hunted by bad people. We must keep him safe._

"Now wipe my words by writing 'That was helpful.' You must be careful when you are writing with a pen or a pencil. As you saw on your first page, the markings disappear, but the pressure marks are still there. Someone very clever could figure out your messages. If you can, try to use a brush and light pressure. That way, there will be no trace."

"Why give this to me, Hokage-sama?"

The old man smiled sadly. "You have been made into the Shodaime's image, but you have only begun to learn how to touch those gifts, never mind how to harness them. I do not have time to teach you now that you must go with Yuji-kun and Mamoru-kun. So, we will use this method to keep in touch. I will give you lessons through the journal. You will write any questions or concerns to me in there as well using the seal to send them to me and wipe them so no one else will be able to see them. This is a very complicated bit of seal work, so you must guard it carefully. It is valuable. Other ninja would find this very useful. We only let our agents use this in very special cases."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Seiichi whispered.

"You're welcome, Seiichi-kun. Now, you can only read my reply once, so be sure to memorize it before you wipe it. Never forget to wipe my reply before you set your diary aside."

* * *

Mae languidly licked beads of perspiration off the side of her straw, letting her lashes brush just so against her cheeks. She heard someone's breath catch to her left along the counter and let a slow smile curl the corners of her mouth as she put the straw back in her soda and drew the tip between her lips. Sweetness, fizz, and artificial flavour blasted her tongue, but she was more focused on the breathing rate of the person watching her.

Her target had been to her right, a youngish man out with his date. She would have passed her self-set test if she had managed to drag his eyes from his date to her. She had failed. Instead, Mae had drawn the attention of the woman sitting three seats to her left.

Oh well. That was fine.

Her breasts _ached_ , and she couldn't keep a shirt clean and dry nowadays. Miscarrying was a pain in the ass. She hadn't had a sane client ever since she had failed to terminate her mistake in the first few weeks. She had stopped trying after that. She'd done some research. She didn't want to kill something with a head, with eyes. No, at that point, she'd been resigned to stretch marks and being stretched out down where being tight was a necessity. Her dreams of silk kimonos and tea ceremonies had died painfully.

She had resigned herself to fucking sickos who had a thing for pregnant women and milk-heavy breasts.

Then the worst sicko had decided to beat the baby out of shape while it was still in her. With his feet.

She fought the grimace off her face and sighed instead. Grimaces were never sexy. Sighs, deep and mournful or light and wistful, could be a hook.

The woman watching her cleared her throat and called for the bill.

Mae traced a corkscrew curl she had somehow threatened and tortured out of its genetically programmed ridiculously tight coils into something halfway passable.

The woman dropped an overly generous tip and fled.

Mae chuckled quietly. Obviously, someone was not comfortable with being anything but het.

Her mirth was cut short when the bust of her dress pressed against her carefully placed arm felt very damp.

_Goddammit._

The shop's bell clanged as someone pulled the door open. Strange, she couldn't hear his footsteps. "Mae-san?"

She jumped at how close behind her his voice was, spinning to stare at him, her carefully crafted pose ruined. The man's badly chopped hair and patchy beard caught her attention before she found his dark eyes. The contempt in them told her that he wasn't here for her cunt. His contempt, his silence, his bad haircut, and the scars she could see on his exposed skin led her to one conclusion.

"Mamoru-san?"

With a weary groan and a teasing smile, he sat down next to her. If it wasn't for the lingering contempt hiding in his eyes, she would have thought he was an old friend she was supposed to be meeting. Maybe he could have been a former classmate from the school she had never attended regularly enough to remember its name or where her desk was. "You didn't get me anything?"

"I'm terribly sorry," she gushed, carefully positioning her arm to hide her wet bust again. He had noticed it in the penetrative glance he had met her with. If his contempt hadn't made her so angry, she would have been slightly embarrassed. "It's been a while. I wasn't sure you liked iced tea anymore, so I didn't dare jump the gun."

"Ginger ale is always a much safer bet. I've gotten over iced tea."

"Ha! You see? It's not like it takes long." Mae leaned forward and waved the proprietress over. "A ginger ale for my friend and a kettle corn parfait just for me."

Mamoru-san's face was a picture of disgust. "Popcorn and whipped cream?"

"Hush! I told you, the flavours jibe."

The proprietress returned with their orders, and they set to absent chatter, carefully taking their cues from each other. Mae was a consummate actress by necessity—men (and women) needed to be convinced she was enjoying herself (against her will sometimes) since it made them come back for more ego stroking. It seemed Mamoru-san was no slouch either. They ended up moving to a booth where she could lean back against the too red vinyl seats and spoon the odd confection into her mouth while he sipped from his tumbler, elbows on the table.

He knocked the conversation off its lighthearted track after a lull. "If you could pick a name, any name, for yourself, what would it be? You can't pick Mae."

With a slight frown, she licked her spoon sensuously to see if he would twitch, but he was stone. "Hmm. A name for myself?" She dragged a finger along the inside of her parfait glass, scooping up chocolate and whipped cream traces. She sucked her finger clean slowly and very thoroughly until Mamoru-san snorted.

"You sure that's clean enough? Maybe there's some ghost of sticky residue still haunting your fingerprint."

She pouted at him. "Meanie! It tastes good. I don't want to waste any of it!"

"A name, greedy guts?"

She huffed. "Fine, Hiromi. That way my name would perfectly reflect my physical perfection."

He puffed a breathy laugh into his forearms before raising his head. "Very well then, no take-backs."

"Why would I?" she asked, smearing the last traces of her treat onto her finger, setting her glass aside, and dropping her spoon in with a chink as she cleaned her finger off for the last time.

"You'll see. Should we get going?"

If she understood this correctly, this was the point where she had to accept or reject the job offer. There was some baby they wanted her to feed. The amount of money they had offered her was staggering, more than enough to maybe restore her dreams of silken kimono and poetry. If she wanted to be stupid and say no, she would beg off.

Mae was not stupid, just bruised and burdened with aching, leaking breasts. "Sure."

* * *

Mamoru led the slut from the sweets shop through Tanzaku Gai's streets to the hotel he had left Seiichi and Yuji to lay low at. She took his hand, threaded her fingers through his, and swung their linked arms playfully every now and then as she chattered to fill their silence. He tried to keep up, tried to keep being absorbed in catching up with a classmate, but she was too much. Everything about her was sex. She was so focused on it, on projecting it, and on forcing everyone within a certain radius of her to make her the object of their sexual desires.

He wasn't interested, so her insistence kept bouncing off his wall, which only made her push harder.

He would need to lay out some ground rules and force her to settle down. He needed her focused on Yuji, not on plying her trade.

Besides, she would freak poor Seiichi-kun out.

"Hiromi."

She was forced to stop with him in the hotel lobby, her momentum and her grip on his hand spinning her to face him. She cocked her head questioningly.

"I need you to…" He sighed and raked his free hand through his hair.

"Mamoru?"

"Seiichi's not used to… you know. He's not even eleven. So can you…?"

"Tone it down?"

He allowed a relieved smile to curl his lips and soften the creases around his eyes. "Yeah."

She nodded and propped a hand on her hip. "Silly Mamoru! You're still a worrywart. I would never spoil his virgin ears and eyes. This is just for you."

He ignored her last words. "He's still torn up about…" His shoulders slumped. "I never thought she would…"

Hiromi-san paused for a long moment, obviously scrambling to catch up. "No, I never considered it either," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "It's okay. She's watching over you three. I'm sure of it."

The whore was good. Very good. Mamoru relaxed internally, glad his doubts about her ability to count and make the proper deductions had been blasted to smithereens. He nodded and glanced up at her through his bangs. "Yeah…"

She ducked down and peered up at him in order to better meet his gaze, a sad smile creasing her coffee skin. "Let's go, huh? We can't keep Seiichi-kun waiting."

With a decisive nod, he strode towards the stairs, not sparing the receptionist that had played audience to their performance a glance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you've forgotten: Rat-67=Takashi=Mamoru, Tiger-19=Tenzou (Yamato)=Seiichi, Naruto=Yuji, Mae=Hiromi

Seiichi scowled at his brother as he crouched to make their eyes level, ignoring the breeze blowing his bangs into his eyes. "Open your mouth, you brat." He kept a firm grip on the boy's arm; he had already had to chase him down the gangplank and didn't want him running any further.

Yuji's big brown eyes gleamed with guile as he shook his head and shuffled his sandalled feet on the worn pier planks. Gulls shrieked despite the southern sea's attempt to shush them as the few fishing boats not out at sea for the day made their mooring lines creak as they rocked on the waves.

"Open your mouth. Spit it out."

Yuji smiled big, his lips sealed together.

"I'll tell Mom."

Yuji's smile faltered.

"And she'll tell Dad."

Pouting, Yuji tipped his head forward and spat the metal nut into Seiichi's palm. It was liberally covered in saliva, but that was probably a good thing since Seiichi didn't have any water with him to rinse his brother's mouth out. He wiped the nut off on his pants and headed back on board, Yuji at his heels, to pass it back to his friend Kin, who had been cleaning some equipment on the schooner when Yuji had struck.

"Your brother's gross."

Seiichi wiped his hand on his pants. "Yeah, he is."

"I am not!" Yuji whacked the back of Seiichi's thigh hard, but the might of a five-year-old was pitiful compared to what their dad could dish out during secret training.

"Sure you are, squirt," Kin, an apprentice fisherman and deckhand, insisted. "What kind of sophisticated, ungross person puts a rusty nut in their mouth?"

"It's the best hiding spot!"

Seiichi face-palmed as Kin arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're not leaving without me this time! I'm coming! I'll catch the biggest fish and gut it. But you can't leave without me. You can't leave without that piece."

Seiichi and Kin shared weary looks. "Sure, kid. But I've got it now, so you've got nothin'."

Yuji smiled that suspiciously closed-lipped smile again and made to dash off, but Seiichi snagged the back of his shirt before he had gotten two steps. It wouldn't do to be too fast in front of civilians.

Seiichi knelt again and cupped his palm back in front of Yuji's face. "Out with it, brat."

* * *

Mamoru put his other arm behind his back and began counting out his one-armed pushups anew.

"You're going to stink up the house with your sweat," Hiromi sniped from the kitchen.

"You've got the window over the sink open," he said with well-worn calm.

"And the breeze stinks of fish."

"Uh-huh." _Twenty-two. Twenty-three…_

"And I bet you don't even know where the boys are."

"Uh-huh." _Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight…_

"You didn't pick up any gin for me, did you?"

"Uh-huh." _Thirty-three. Thirty-four…_

"We're having sashimi again."

"Uh-huh." _Thirty-six…_

"Can we please have sex?"

He rolled his eyes. "Uh-uh."

Long association and careful observation made him certain she was doing the same. "What's the point of maintaining muscle definition if nobody gets to appreciate it? Wouldn't it feel nice to have someone smooth her fingers over the dips and planes—?"

"Hiromi."

"Wouldn't it feel good to have nails raking over your back?"

"Hiromi."

"I know it would be nice to watch the shadows play over the—"

"Goddammit, woman, you're making me lose count!"

She snorted. "I'll shut up if you let me cut your hair and shave that patchy excuse for overgrown stubble off."

"Done. Now be quiet. The boys will be home soon."

"Does turning on the radio count as being quiet?"

"You know it does. So long as you're not talking, you're quiet."

As always, she had the battered device tuned to a classical music station, one that favoured traditional instruments like the biwa (her favourite) over the violin and such that were becoming so popular for movie music.

The boys broke their peace. Yuji was hollering (as he often was) that he would prove himself in one way or another, and Seiichi was crunching up the gravel path in his wake. "We're back," Yuji announced as he kicked off his sandals and swooped in to hug Hiromi's leg.

She set aside her cleaver and wiped her hands on a rag before ruffling his genjutsu-brown hair with a smile as he grinned up at her. "Welcome back."

Seiichi, as always, tidied up Yuji's sandals before taking off his own and padding across the kitchen to stand before Mamoru.

The team leader shook his hair out of his eyes and glanced up at the fifteen-year-old. "So?"

"Nothing unusual. He put strange things in his mouth again."

"Niichan!"

"You did what?" said Hiromi, falling to her knees and prying Yuji's mouth open despite his inarticulate protests and the futile stink-eye he aimed at his brother. "Seiichi, get me a glass!"

With a sigh, the older boy obeyed Hiromi, swiping a cup from the cupboard and filling it with water before putting it into the woman's shaking hands.

"Take a mouthful, Yuji. Swish it around your mouth."

"Mom!"

"Take a mouthful!"

Groaning, the young boy glared at his brother before caving and spitting the water into the sink when prompted. The process was repeated until the boy was using warm salt water and wailing about how awful his mother was. Only then did she relent.

"You don't go sticking strange things in your mouth, Yuji! Who knows where they have been!"

"Yes, Mom."

"Go to your room," Mamoru rumbled, sitting cross-legged against the wall now that he had finished his last set.

"But, Dad!"

"Your room, Yuji. We have lots of secret work to do tonight. Take a nap."

Groaning, Yuji stumbled from the room and stomped up the stairs.

* * *

Yuji curled up on his futon. Stupid tattletale brother.

He really did want to go out with the fishermen this year and show them all. He really would catch a big fish. But Mom said no. Dad said absolutely not. Seiichi-niichan just shook his head.

They didn't understand though. Just because he was afraid of the big water of the sea, he had to go out onto it and show it that he was the boss. Something in him cringed with terror when the storms brought the big waves to beat the beaches and splinter the piers. Those big waves carried huge logs that they threw high up onto the shore, so high that Yuji had never seen seaweed or high tide touch those places.

Yuji needed to stand in the middle of those waves and snarl loudly and bare his teeth.

When he'd told his father this, Dad had smiled the twinkly eyed smile that meant he was laughing on the inside and had said, "Is that so?"

Dad was quiet most of the time and you had to look really hard to see his chuckles, his grins, and his full-bellied laughs when they weren't out in public or with his work friends. They were all in the creases around his eyes and the twinkle in them. Only Mom could make him bring the laughter into the air at home when they had no guests.

Yuji had always had the impression that Mom wasn't supposed to be there. He wasn't sure what it had come from other than a sketchy memory of Mom shouting at Dad while Yuji clung to her leg and refused to let her go, but every now and then he was reminded of it. It was the way Dad and Seiichi-niisan would nod behind Mom's back and talk more when the three of them were out in the woods doing secret training while Mom slept back at home. However, Yuji was glad Mom was still with them. She made the house warm even when she and Dad were fighting because she fought loudly while Dad fought with silence.

Seiichi-niichan would always keep him out of their way when they were in the middle of a hurricane argument. His brother was the best, even if he was a tattletale and was a daddy's boy. Niichan had assured him many times that Yuji was the momma's boy.

"Yuji."

Speak of the meanie. "G'way. I'm napping."

"If you're napping, you shouldn't be replying. I'm coming in."

Yuji scowled and crossed his arms as a greeting to his brother and the light the opening door brought in from the hallway. His frown faltered when he saw that Niichan had brought the magic talking diary.

"Shh!" Seiichi warned him, a finger pressed against his lips.

Yuji pressed his hands over his mouth until Niichan closed the door and settled beside him on the bed. Seiichi set the pot of ink carefully beside the futon, locking his eyes on Yuji, who nodded, silently promising not to knock the bottle over. Brother gave him the brush to hold while he flipped through the worn pages full of Niichan's entries. Yuji wasn't supposed to read those since there was stuff about the girls he had crushes on and about the bad stuff he and Kin had gotten up to when he wasn't with Yuji, which wasn't often. Niichan stuck to him like a burr unless Dad was with him.

"Did you write to the book genie?" Yuji whispered when Seiichi set the book down in front of him, two blank pages glowing in the dim light.

"I told him about how you're afraid of the ocean."

Yuji scowled again. "Why would you do that, butthead?"

"Because the genie's always interested in you. He likes to hear about these things. It lets him know that he should be afraid of the ocean too if he ever escapes the book. You're teaching him things."

Yuji grunted.

With a grin, Seiichi reclaimed the brush. "You promise you won't ever tell Mom or anyone else about the book? Ever?"

"I promise." Yuji always had to promise whenever Niichan brought the book out. It was their big secret. Yuji wasn't even sure Dad knew about the genie book, and Dad usually knew everything about Seiichi.

Niichan dipped the brush into the ink, brushed the excess off on the inside of the bottle's opening, and scrawled out the familiar phrase 'And what do you think?' on the top of the page.

Words appeared, lots of words. The characters were mostly kanji, but Niichan would help Yuji figure them out.

_Hello again, Seiichi-kun. I am glad to hear from you. I am glad that the kekkei genkai is obeying you better now. Keep working at it. We will begin lessons on how to make the beast sit soon. I need to find a special necklace for you. It will make things easier. It will take some doing to capture it though. It is guarded by a fierce warrior woman and said to be cursed._

"Wow," whispered Yuji, glancing up at his brother. "Genie-san is going to teach you magic?"

"A special technique."

"Would Dad know it?"

"No, it's something only I can do."

Yuji's eyes widened. Seiichi could do a couple things that Dad couldn't, like making trees obey him. Seiichi-niichan was so cool. "And you get a cursed necklace. How is Genie-san going to get it for you?"

"With his magic, of course."

_It is interesting to hear that Yuji-kun is afraid of the ocean. Kushina-chan never said anything like that, but she received it later on and didn't spend much time near the water._

"Who's Kushina-chan?" Genie-san mentioned her every once in a while.

"She's a kid like you. Genie-san talked to her too. He doesn't now."

"How come?"

"Because we've got the book."

That made sense.

_Yuji-kun is very brave to want to go out fishing despite this fear. I would tell him to wait until he is a little older though. Five is very grown up, but ten is even more grown up. A boy with ten years will catch an even bigger fish even more easily. It will be more impressive if he waits. Patience is rewarding. He will be six soon. And then seven. And then eight. And then nine._

_And then…_

_And then…_

_Ten!_

Yuji grinned.

_Have you been to the city recently? Will you go for the festival? Maybe they will have lots of fireworks. I know your village has festivals for your temple and you have fireworks then, but the city can afford bigger ones. Tell your father to take you. Take very good care of your brother, Seiichi. The city can be big and frightening. It is easy to get lost or disappear. But there are many things to see. So many different people, with skins whiter than Seiichi's and golden or red hair or skins darker brown than even your mother's with curlier black hair. Sometimes, they have their hair in thousands of tiny braids. You might find a person with green or blue eyes. Maybe even a person with purple or red eyes if you look very hard._

Yuji couldn't imagine this. His mother was one of the strangest looking people in their village with her curly brown-black hair cropped near her scalp (only old Ramon-san looked weirder with his dreadlocks), but even she had brown eyes. Everyone had brown eyes. Kin's were not 'amber', no matter how much he insisted they were. And everyone had brown or black hair. "For real? Someone can have yellow hair?"

Niichan burst out laughing for some reason. "Yes, Yuji, people can have blond hair."

"What's so funny?"

Niichan just shook his head and turned back to Genie-san's words.

_Yuji-kun, I hope you are working hard at your secret training and keeping it secret. Seiichi-kun tells me that you have learned all the handseals already. Keep practicing them. See how quickly you can run through the sequences your father will teach you. The faster you are, the better. Kushina-chan used to run through every sequence six times as fast as she could on the way to school. She was very strong._

_You must tell me of anything interesting that happens. Work hard, both of you!_

Seiichi rewetted his brush and wrote the closing sequence that made the words disappear as though they had never been there. "Did you want me to write something for you?"

Yuji took a deep breath in preparation for all the words he had stored up.

* * *

Hiruzen strolled through the village, its restive peace filling him with a temporary haze of contentment. It was always good to be able to communicate with Tenzou-kun and Naruto-kun. With every passing year, Tenzou-kun made it obvious that Naruto-kun took after his mother more in mannerisms despite how closely his looks had matched his father's. From the sound of things, Naruto-kun and Tenzou-kun were being well taught by Takashi-kun. Hiruzen had to wonder if Takashi-kun would be willing to drop out of ANBU for a time upon returning to take on a genin team. The agent was old enough, after all. If he was not going to have children and pass on his line that way, then it would be best to give him official students.

There were other established bachelors and bachelorettes that had contributed to the village in this way when they had shown themselves reluctant to settle down. And, wonder of wonders, some of them had miraculously settled down in truth in the course of mentoring.

The restive quality of the street notched up. Malevolence, awe, and determined ignorance met Hiruzen as he glanced around at others walking the thoroughfare. He knew this pattern well. He turned around and smiled at the Uchiha approaching him.

The Uchiha was shorter than expected, but then, Itachi-kun had yet to reach his growth spurt. He looked haunted, but the boy always did when he returned from a mission where he had had to fight, which was most missions. Kumo hadn't taken Konoha's deliberately shoddy peace offering well those two years ago. Skirmishes had continued along the eastern edges of the northern boarder, often quite bloody. Even an eleven-year-old that had just been promoted to chuunin for his efficiency despite his pacifistic nature could not be spared.

"Hokage-sama," Itachi-kun said, bowing shortly to him, which only made those determinedly ignoring the Uchiha frown more deeply.

"Itachi-kun. Your timing is fortunate. I'm heading to your house. Would you accompany me?"

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Itachi-kun fell into step beside him. "Was all well in the village while I was away?"

"As well as could be expected with your absence. Your brother was quite lonely."

The beginning of a smile curved the boy's lips. "There were no… incidents at the compound, though?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "No real vandalism other than more graffiti with the usual slurs near the gates. I am sorry I cannot keep the incidents from occurring entirely."

"Sparing ninja to prevent the petty strikes is a bit of a waste."

Hiruzen smiled. Yes, this boy was the genius he had been named. If not for the blatant mistrust the village held towards the Uchiha, the boy would have been a clear candidate for Hokage along with Uchiha Shisui, though the latter was more of a fighter than a thinker or a planner.

"Was the unrest concerning my father's position within the Military Police settled?"

Hiruzen sighed. "For now, yes. This isn't the first time they have struck at him, though this is the most determined of the attempts, save the one that occurred nearly six years ago. The hatred was at its freshest then."

"You do believe us, Hokage-sama?" Itachi-kun whispered, staring straight ahead, ignoring the poison directed at him.

"I believe in Clan Uchiha to the best of my ability. It is difficult when no one has been able to get a satisfactory alibi out of your parents or many of the other adult Uchiha as to where they were on that night. My belief means nearly nothing though, Itachi-kun. You must find proof, as I have advised your whole clan, if they were indeed delving into clan business they cannot speak of during a meeting at a location they will not honestly name."

Itachi-kun frowned and dropped his gaze.

"Do not lose hope. Your father has invited me to your home today. Perhaps he has found a lead."

"More like mother did," Itachi muttered. "He can't leave the village, as MP head."

"Yes, most likely your mother did, but she is too discrete to brag."

* * *

When they at last sat around Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto's coffee table, cups of tea at hand, Fugaku leaned closer, Mikoto sitting demurely to his left. "There are rumours that an organization that belongs to no village is hunting the beasts."

"I assume you are speaking of Akatsuki," said Hiruzen, who had heard about it from Jiraiya the moment Orochimaru had begun having dealings with them.

Fugaku nodded. "Clan members have picked up rumours that while they work commissions like any village operative, they have quietly been investigating certain people, tracking down certain powers amongst certain villages. For example, Akatsuki seemed very interested in the Yondaime Mizukage."

Yagura had been the Sanbi's jinchuuriki until his disappearance. "Interesting. Continue your research. Do not forget that finding parties interested in the bijuu is not enough. You must prove their link to the Kyuubi's attack. I am counting on the Uchiha."

Uchiha Mikoto watched Hiruzen with her fathomless dark eyes as her husband bowed his head before following suit.

* * *

Mae curled up on her futon as the back door shut quietly behind the two ninja she shared this mission with and her son.

She hadn't expected him to become her son. She knew that her child had been a girl and probably would have become a girl just like herself: born to a prostitute, born into prostitution, with no thoughts of what else in life there might be, other than perhaps a higher class of prostitution.

Mamoru (she knew that wasn't his real name, but for her, it was) had taken her away from all that and had given her Yuji, who couldn't have been more than a week old. Yuji had adored her, so she had adored him in turn, keeping to whatever orders Mamoru issued without protest as Seiichi watched her warily. Those two had warmed up to her more slowly, glacially slowly. She hadn't realized why until Yuji had been weaned.

"You're done now," Mamoru had told her.

She had violently refused, and Yuji had backed her in his small way.

That was the one argument she had won against Mamoru that counted. Every day that she woke up to see Yuji at the breakfast table was a victory so sweet she could take that Mamoru kept her on a short leash and kept many things from her with Seiichi.

She knew Yuji's hair wasn't really curly brown, similar to the way the illusion made hers, and that his eyes weren't that colour either. She had seen the illusion flicker when Mamoru had been laid up with the flu a couple years ago. She had been bouncing Yuji on her knee when suddenly his eyes had faded to blue, his hair had receded to a golden buzz cut, and his features had sharpened. Upstairs, she had heard Mamoru emptying his stomach into the toilet.

The toilet had flushed, and Yuji had returned to normal.

So, yes, she knew that they were hiding Yuji. For how long, she wasn't sure, but this was the first year she had felt the cloud of their separation truly hanging over her. She had caught Mamoru studying Yuji objectively and trading looks with Seiichi. Late night training sessions had been stepped up.

How long would she have her baby yet? Where would they take him when they took him from her? Would she ever see him again? What would happen to her when Yuji was no longer there to protect her, to keep her near him? Mamoru refused to answer her questions.

They had promised her money, and she had gotten it. It was in an account. Every six months, she would go to the nearby city and check the balance, and it was always steady, slowly gathering interest. She had once wanted that money to break from her lowest rung on the prostitution ladder, to scale the ladder to the top, to even break away completely and train as a geisha, to have some ability to choose whom she lay with, to be desired for something other than how much cleavage she showed.

Now…

She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, flashes of colour playing behind her eyelids.

Uncertainty ran chilled fingers over her stomach and intestines despite how she curled up in a ball to ward off the cold. Her eyes prickled and stung as her breathing became jagged and heavy.

She would not cry. Not now, not when she hadn't cried when losing her own child to the beating. No, she was a born whore. She did not cry.

When Mamoru came in, sliding the door open and shut nearly silently, she was still curled in a ball, struggling to be still, be silent. She expected him to go to his own futon, to rush into sleep's embrace, but he paused.

"Hiromi?"

She stayed still.

He padded to her side and pulled the blanket free of her face, following with her hands. "Hiromi." He clasped her hands in his for a moment before tracing the curve of her jaw with a calloused finger. He chucked diamond-shaped knives with this finger and his thumb. She had seen him once. He had called them kunai.

She didn't respond to his touch.

"Hiromi, what is it?" His palm rested against her cheek, warm. "Is it Yuji?"

Mae gave up on feigning sleep. Mamoru was as excellent an actor as he was at picking out body language. "What's going to happen? When is this going to end?"

He sighed and caressed one of her palms for the benefit of their nonexistent audience. Mae had learned on the first day that Mamoru never stopped acting, never broke character. "I can't tell you."

"Because you aren't allowed to or because you don't know?"

"Both."

"I'm right though, aren't I? Yuji is going to go away."

He wrote 'yes' on her palm. It tickled, but the sensation didn't block out the spike of pain/terror/uncertainty/fierce denial.

"And what's going to happen to us? Where will you go?"

'Back.'

"Where?"

He started writing 'home' but paused. He crossed out the character and wrote 'back' again instead.

"Because you have to or because you want to?" she whispered.

'Job', 'family graves', and 'comrades' got traced onto her palm.

She considered this. Mamoru was a ninja, she was fairly sure. Probably a Konoha ninja, so that meant he would go back to Konoha. "And Seiichi?"

'Same.'

"And me?"

'Wherever you want. Whatever you want.'

She sat up and took his palm now, locking eyes with him. He was a primal creature, eyes full of roiling and unknowable purpose when he wasn't guarded enough. He would always be her image of what a ninja was. And she wanted to have that example close. _What if what I want is to go with you?_ But she knew better than to say that. Besides, there were other more pressing questions. 'And will I be alive?'

He didn't even blink at the words she had written on his palm. 'I promise.'

Suspicion weighed heavily in her gut. 'Will I remember?'

He didn't give anything away, a superb actor, but she knew that he was lying when he wrote 'yes' on her palm.

_If I don't remember you…_ She shook her head, her eyes stinging again, so she pulled her palms free to press against the lids. He always lied to her, so it wasn't the dishonesty that burned, she supposed. It was that he had let her see that he lied somehow. He hadn't even spared her the reassurance that believing in his lie would grant her.

He locked his hands around her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face for the second time. After trapping both in one grip, he put his other hand on the back of her neck and drew her closer, pressing his lips against hers. It was the mask though, so she didn't want any of it. Mamoru kissed Hiromi, not Mae. Yuji loved Mae. Seiichi was fond of Mae. But Mamoru only played husband for Hiromi, never for Mae. Instead of accepting kisses meant for an imaginary woman, Mae pressed her lips to the side of his neck instead, breathing in his scent. His unruly stubble prickled against her cheek and then her neck as he mimicked her gesture.

"I'm shaving you tomorrow," she whispered before pulling away.

His eyes were full of the veneer of calm covering showy worry. Totally in character again. "I did promise."

She pulled the mask of Hiromi back on and leaned forward to capture his lips. He responded nicely, he always did, but the meaning behind his motion only touched her skin, nothing deeper. Disgust led her to fumbling her role and pulling away a little too briskly. Shit. She didn't want him to know how he bothered her. "Goodnight," she whispered, burrowing back under her blankets.

* * *

Mamoru watched her snuggle back under the covers.

She had been particularly unsubtle. Interesting. And a little bit sad.

Hiromi was a good actress, to a point. She blended too much of herself in when she dealt with Yuji and Seiichi. Her love for those two was sincere and deeper than she probably meant it to be. Mae came through for them. For him, she managed a little better to keep her character and self separate. She would occasionally lapse, as she had tonight. Mae had come through strongly in her fear and her questions, but that was to be expected, he supposed.

Mamoru was just glad he had somehow managed to trigger her back into Hiromi, whom he could act alongside. Takashi wanted nothing to do with Mae the prostitute, but Mamoru could love Hiromi.

If she was as concerned as she had let on, he was going to have to do something. She was attached enough to Naruto-kun that she would act irrationally if he tried to take him away from her again. Last time, he had let her stay because, honestly, her presence made their act that much better. For her to suddenly disappear would raise questions, which he would have to avoid by moving the entire operation.

Her love for Naruto-kun was strong enough that he wasn't sure a memory block would cut it. To be safe, he would have had to kill her. He hadn't been ready then, though. Hiromi had been a wonderful mother to both boys, created a stable home life that somehow swept the mission under the rug, and had been a good enough wife to Mamoru that Takashi had let it pass.

It had been easier when Mae the whore had just been doing this for the money. That type of loyalty was sketchy but easily dealt with. The deep bonds motivating her now were much more difficult.

He had promised her life though. Hopefully, she would accept the memory block so it wouldn't be necessary for him to break that vow to her.

* * *

Hiromi wielded the blade competently, scraping it along Mamoru's jawline. In the city, the last time they had made the journey, she had seen the usual "safe" razors made with porcelain, metal, and wood since plastic was so precious and difficult to produce in this day and age. She had been tempted to nab a few for herself, to make it easier to keep her legs clean, but then she wouldn't have an excuse to touch Mamoru. After stropping the blade for the last time, she cleaned up the other side of his jawline, flicking her eyes over his neck and lifting his chin to ensure that shadow hadn't hidden anything from her.

She handed over the bottle of aftershave as she wiped the blade clean and stowed it before nabbing her scissors off the kitchen table. The boys were out again, off doing whatever Yuji and Seiichi considered worthy of a Sunday morning after a long training session the night before. Taking the whetstone in hand, she touched up the edge of her scissors before pestering Mamoru into sitting down again.

"Your hair is a mess."

"It seems it always is."

She smiled slightly as she set aside her scissors and made him tip his chair back as well as his head so his hair was under the kitchen sink's tap for the most part. She turned the water on warm and worked water into the hair that the spout missed. He lay back, eyes closed, and let her do as she liked.

Afterwards, as she patiently combed his hair into the proper part and made it lie flat, she wondered who would do this for him when he returned to wherever he was from. Did he have someone there he liked? Was that why he never looked at her, never turned to her for any sort of release? What was his real name?

She supposed she would never know.

The activity she normally enjoyed so much because it was the one time she felt close to Mamoru suddenly became a torment because she really didn't know him at all.

When she finished, she stepped back and helped him brush the clippings off his back once he stood up.

"I'll clean up," he said, heading for the broom. "And it's my turn to cook tonight. What have we got?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Cod." This endless parade of fish grated upon her. She wanted some real red meat, dammit.

He smiled wryly at her disgust. "If you want, you could take Seiichi and head to the herders' village up the track. Grab some salted pork or whatever from their stores. He'll be glad for the outing. I'll keep Yuji amused."

"Do you know where they are?"

He began sweeping. "Down on the docks, probably. Breathe through your mouth so you don't offend anyone with your sweet expression."

She gave him the finger before slinging on her coat and heading out the door, his eyes probably crinkled with amusement behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Mamoru felt as though that time Hiromi cut his hair had been a turning point, years later. What had once been a truce of sorts became distance. It was gradual and so subtle he didn't realize how much had changed until he fingered his hair, which was currently brushing his shoulders, and turned to Hiromi. "Will you cut it?"

"Hmm?"

"My hair?"

"Oh, sure. Go have a shower, and I'll do it when you get out."

And he froze, realization hitting him all at once. This was odd. She had always started from scratch before, wetting his hair herself. She had always nagged him about his stubble and his hair, but he had been the last one to shave himself. Yet, she was the one coaching Seiichi on shaving. In fact, Mamoru had been slowly taking over simply because more and more she neglected to harass him into letting her do it. It had been a sign of their closeness. That she was being cavalier about it…

"Hiromi…"

She turned to him fully now, the rough cotton of her dull pants and shirt strange when he compared it to the image of her as she had been at their first meeting. Almost eight years now. She had to be what, twenty-eight, twenty-nine? The beginnings of lines were collecting in the corners of her eyes and around her mouth, visible through the henge he kept on her. Laugh lines, fortunately. Her hair was cropped close to her skull, impossibly curly. Her hair had been longer then, and she had worn a deep blue velvet dress and too much makeup.

"How old are you?"

She flinched, her eyes darting away from him. "If I answer, will you tell me the same? A _true_ answer?"

He considered before nodding.

"I'm almost twenty-six."

Seventeen. She had been seventeen, nearly eighteen, the same age Seiichi was now. He felt he should have known, that surely the information had been provided on that long-forgotten mission scroll.

"And you?"

He glanced away now. "Thirty-five."

She smiled slightly. "You don't look it, if that reassures you at all. People don't ask how Seiichi can be your son, but I always wonder why."

He wished he could say the same truthfully, but she looked haggard for twenty-five. Living on the coast didn't agree with her, but then, her previous lifestyle hadn't either if it hadn't struck him just how _young_ she had been. "You look far too wise for twenty-five."

She laughed, but it was bitter. "I've always wondered why no one asked too many questions about me. Even if I looked thirty, Seiichi's too old to be mine. Thanks for being nicer than them about it though, I guess. Go have your shower now. I have to sharpen my scissors."

* * *

"Has she been acting oddly?"

Seiichi ducked under Mamoru's kick as Yuji did sit-ups with his knees curled over a low branch at the edge of their well-established clearing. "You've noticed."

Mamoru did not look amused as he blocked Seiichi's retaliatory strike.

"It's been slow, but she's pulling away from us except for Yuji. She won't ruffle my hair anymore."

"You're almost a grown man now," Mamoru pointed out. "It would be odd."

Seiichi shrugged. "It's little things like that with me. Things that, as you say, can be passed off as a mother letting go of a grownup son. With you, it's a little more obvious. Well, there was always some distance between you two, but the gap has increased. When I go with her to get pork or beef up the track, she flirts with a couple men these days. She didn't used to."

Seiichi could tell that Mamoru was torn between relief that Hiromi would be easier to cast off when their mission ended and worry at how ties were only weakening on certain fronts. He was tempted to roll his eyes. Dad could be pretty dumb.

Mamoru forcefully reminded Seiichi that he was only dumb in one area by creaming him in hand-to-hand combat and combat with mild jutsu before gently sparring against Yuji, correcting his stances without fail and taking blows without wincing that Yuji still didn't understand he was supposed to pull. Seiichi found himself grinning at his father unabashedly as Yuji reluctantly went through a battle at half speed with Mamoru so he could illustrate how to react properly to blows. His little brother was getting better. Seiichi had had very little contact with Academy students, having only attended for a month before blasting through graduation and genin rank to chuunin, but he had the feeling that Yuji knew more about combat than he would have if he had been attending the Village's school.

By the end of the half-speed spar, Yuji was on his butt, panting and scowling. "Dad! No fair!"

"You thought slow motion would give you a better chance?"

"Of course! You win because you're faster than me."

"I win because I know the dance better than you do. We spar to make you memorize the dance. Now go throw kunai and shuriken with your brother. I have handseals to practice."

Seiichi obliged Yuji by having him throw many kunai, focusing on improving his brother's accuracy and precision. Once Yuji was well on his way, Seiichi sidled over to Father. "Sarutobi-sama wrote to me this morning," he whispered as Mamoru ran through the seals for what seemed to be an earth-style jutsu at half speed.

"And?"

"He asks after Yuji's progress. Jiraiya-sama has been pressing for permission to see his godson. At the very least, he would like our location so Jiraiya-sama can visit us and get Yuji used to his presence."

Mamoru watched Yuji chuck shuriken for a moment. "He's not quite ready," he admitted. "His skills are progressing, but he's not strong enough to fend for himself should Jiraiya-sama need to leave him behind to pursue his work. He doesn't know how to operate on his own. He's always with you or me, for good reason."

"His knowledge is also lacking," Seiichi whispered. "He knows nothing of the village structure and international politics."

Mamoru nodded. "Deliberate. A child's ability to keep his mouth shut is always in question. Even with you and me watching him, there was only so much we could do to curb him in public. Keeping him from showing off the results of his training was nearly impossible, if you recall. He is, unfortunately, something of a braggart."

"That usually stems from insecurity."

"Competing with you shouldn't have been an issue," Mamoru mused, his eyes narrowed. "You are much older. Hiromi coddles him compared to you."

"In terms of responsibility, perhaps. Children his age are often trusted with errands to perform on their own, so I've seen. He has never once been without you or me."

"True. Hiromi's unstable position might also be worrying him. He's aware of it on some level."

Seiichi nodded. "He's also feeling left out because your job is not out at sea, as most of his friends' fathers' jobs are. That you work in the village means that his friends can brag about their knowledge of knots and rigging, while he can say little in return."

"The son of a mechanic having little to say. Hmm. Yes, that's true too."

"He learns the ninja trade, but he cannot speak of it. So he compensates by bragging about other things to gain attention." Seiichi glanced up at the patch of sky visible between the birch and maple boughs, which had gone from a dusky pink and orange to blue. Soon there would be too little light to throw kunai safely and night training would begin. "Should I tell Sarutobi-sama to have Jiraiya-sama visit?"

His father nodded. "Jiraiya-sama will need to see for himself that Yuji isn't ready. He can also update us on the situation. The lack of activity here is both reassuring and worrying. Have they found us? Are they just biding their time? If so, why? We are bound here, so we cannot begin to seek out the answers. Jiraiya-sama must not leave a trail to us though. Be sure you specify this in your reply."

"And what are we going to do about Mother?"

Mamoru raised an eyebrow. "Do?"

Seiichi was tempted to bury his face in his palms as his father walked over to Yuji and informed him that night exercises such as tree climbing by feel and moving silently through the underbrush were about to begin. It was one thing to be reserved, as he had to be with the village girls, but it was another to be obtuse about your own wife.

* * *

Uchiha Mikoto looked over her notes and sighed. Akatsuki was subtle. There was no solid proof of any contact with Konoha other than through Orochimaru, though their members took opportunities to quietly track down jinchuuriki in other villages or out in the countryside, since a few carriers had somehow managed to slip away from their villages. Nothing in Fire though.

The very avoidance stank.

"Mother."

She glanced over at Itachi, who had just gotten out of the bath. He liked to soak for about an hour after returning from a mission no matter how pruney he came out looking.

"Any luck?"

She shook her head. "They are laying low, I suppose. I cannot tell you why, no more than I can tell you why they are hunting bijuu but not engaging them, just tracking them."

Itachi looked disheartened, glancing down at his hands as he settled beside her at the table. "Father is angry, quietly."

"You know why. Getting into ANBU would have been perfect for his plans, but the prejudice has been blocking your entrance for two years now. He's getting impatient. We are hemmed in on all sides. Even Hokage-sama only offers us the chance to clear our name, not to ascend higher."

Itachi shook his head. "He kept me after debriefing today."

Mikoto turned to her son now. This sounded more important than her notes.

"He talked about promoting me to jounin, but first he wanted to see if I was interested in interning in Admin."

"In what capacity?"

Itachi shifted slightly, betraying nerves. "He wanted me to work as his unofficial assistant."

Mikoto reached over and squeezed the twelve-year-old's hand. "And?"

"I told him I wanted to discuss it with you."

She smiled. "So let's discuss. You've been a chuunin for over two years now. You are very competent in the field, but I know you hate it. Do you know what it might mean, that Hokage-sama has offered this to you?"

Itachi's dark eyes met her own. "It could be seen as either an honour or as a leash."

"True, but publicly, it will be seen as an honour. You will be exposed to protocol, to village politics, and to Fire politics. You will meet many influential people. Both Orochimaru and Yondaime-sama served in this way for a time, as did Sandaime-sama for Nidaime-sama."

Itachi's eyes closed now as he nodded. "Oh."

"You see now? This is the reward he dangles before you. He sees you as trustworthy despite your connection to the clan, despite what he suspects us of. He must see you as somewhat removed from whatever plot we are hatching."

"And what if it is a leash in disguise?" he asked, frowning. "What if Father decides to use this position the same way he wanted to use my position in ANBU?"

"He will, and it is." She cupped his cheeks and used her thumbs to lift the corners of his lips. "You are wise though, despite your age. I think Hokage-sama knows what the clan is rumbling for. I think he wants you to prove yourself to him as the bridge between bloodshed and peace."

"And what would you do in my place?"

Mikoto glanced out the window as she mulled over the possibilities. "What your father wants, what the rest of the clan wants, it is shortsighted."

Itachi nodded. "War won't give us anything we want, just pain." The stark belief in his words shone in his eyes.

Mikoto was less of a pacifist. "War is about destruction. Taking out Konoha will destabilize the balance of the Five Nations. While we are fighting here, the other four villages will be circling, along with a few of the stronger minor villages. After razing Konoha to the ground, will we be strong enough to uphold Konoha's position in Fire? I doubt it. It is a foolish idea. The skirmishes on our border, what good do they accomplish other than to fuel tension? Suna and Iwa eye us hungrily while our gaze is on Kumo.

"No, there are quieter ways to achieve the respect we want without prostrating ourselves before Sarutobi-sama, slobbering over his mercy while frantically searching for proof that Kyuubi was not our doing. I would take the position to learn. Learn whether Sarutobi-sama truly wishes you to be in line for Hokage. Learn who the real successor will be and find out whether he shares Sarutobi-sama's preference for you."

"Real successor. Hmm, I guess I am too young to be ready before Sandaime-sama will want to retire."

"Exactly. He probably has someone else in mind. I suspect Jiraiya-sama, but he has turned Hokage-sama down before. Will you find out who the other option is?"

Itachi nodded solemnly as Sasuke burst in the door, back from another gruelling day at the Academy if his complaints to his brother were accurate. Mikoto and Itachi shared a secret smile, one that spoke of fondness for Sasuke and an unspoken pact.

* * *

Yuji returned home from yet another day running around the docks with his friends under his brother's watchful eye to find a stranger in their kitchen seated at their table. Mom looked nervous, but Dad looked happy, jovial almost.

"Yuji, Seiichi, come in and close the door," he said, beckoning them to take seats at the table.

"We're back," Yuji mumbled belatedly, eyeing the stranger as he shuffled over to wrap an arm around Mom's waist as she whispered, "Welcome back."

"This is my uncle, Atsushi. He has finally found time in his busy schedule to visit us," said Dad as Seiichi settled into the chair beside him and shook Great Uncle Atsushi's hand across the table with an easy grin.

Mom ruffled Yuji's hair before pushing him forward. "Go say hello."

Yuji took a deep breath before trotting over and bowing shortly. "Hi!"

The white-haired uncle offered his hand. Yuji cautiously shook it. Atsushi-ojisan looked happy enough, but his eyes were glimmering with tears. "Hello, Yuji-kun. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've been meaning to for a long time."

* * *

Hiromi struggled to remain outwardly happy at those words, but internally, she was panicking. Waiting, huh? That rang too true despite all the lies Mamoru had been spouting since this Uncle Atsushi had arrived at their door with a genial chuckle and a lewd compliment for her. The focus was entirely on Yuji, having Yuji meet this uncle.

Mae was dead certain that this was no accident.

"Yuji, did you collect many mussels today?" she asked quickly, inserting herself into the conversation before Yuji or Atsushi could begin to talk about why they needed to meet.

Yuji turned his sunny smile on her, and she breathed a little easier. "Yeah, me and Tori filled three pails. Arata wasn't as fast: we helped him fill his second one. Hoshi-jijii gave us eighty ryou for our buckets."

"That's twenty a pail," she said with a frown. "Last time he gave you twenty-five."

Yuji shrugged. "He said he had some already, so he didn't need them as much. He's heading to the city tomorrow, so I'll be able to get more for the pails when he comes back. I brought some home for us. Niichan and me washed them outside."

"Do you want them for supper?" she asked the table at large.

"I'll cook them," Mamoru said, getting up. "Hiromi, sit down. They're drying outside?"

Seiichi nodded, and Mamoru slipped out the door to collect them.

Hiromi took his seat and fought not to cringe or react like the whore she had been at Atsushi's leer. She had the feeling he knew who she had been and that he knew her kind well despite his age. "So, Atsushi-san, what is it that keeps you on the road?"

"I'm a travelling writer. Wandering brings me new inspiration, so I always keep on the road. I can't keep my editors waiting for my next manuscript for too long."

"It must be hard to edit," she said, "what with the collaboration required between you and your editor. I imagine you're stuck in one place then."

"Hmm, yes, usually. Sometimes I manage to set up forwarding for the notes my editor sends me because I can't sit still any longer. The time when I'm writing is the best for travel though."

"What about book signing? Promotional tours?"

He appraised her from behind his smile. "I don't do book tours. I write under a pen name. We use my identity as a selling point, a mystery for fans to debate."

"Interesting."

Seiichi was watching her carefully, worried. She smiled to reassure him, and he cracked a weak grin in return. Obviously, he wasn't keen on her cutting questions for their guest.

"Can we speak frankly?" Atsushi asked her, glancing at Seiichi, who was silently balking.

"Let's," said Hiromi.

"I'm glad you stayed here with him. I was told you would be done once he was weaned, and that would be that, but I'm glad. His mother would have be pleased. She was so eager to meet him, to teach him her ways. She wanted him to not be like the others that had mocked her dream to be the village leader. She believed women should be able to do whatever they wanted. If he didn't have you, I don't think he would have had the opportunity to understand that."

Hiromi stared. Yuji's real mother, whoever she was, had apparently been strong, someone who was maybe a ninja, interested in being a Kage? Had she succeeded? Was that why Yuji was being hidden? Because his mother was dead, would her enemies come after Yuji?

"What are you talking about?" Yuji said, glancing between the three of them with a scowl as Mamoru came back inside.

A glance passed between Atsushi and Mamoru, who shrugged and sighed.

Mamoru set the bowl of mussels on the counter and stood behind Yuji's chair, placing hands on his narrow shoulders. "Yuji, we're going to tell you parts of a big secret. I need you to be mature about it. That means no crying, no screaming, no running away, and no getting angry. You need to stop and think, like I've been teaching you."

"Like a warrior," Yuji said, craning his neck to stare up at his father.

"Exactly. Now, gather your calm and listen quietly. We are going to tell you some of what is and cannot be changed. Not everything, because that must be earned with your progress."

Beside her, Seiichi ran through a series of hand motions under the table. Nothing happened except a chill ran down Hiromi's spine. "No one should be able to hear," Seiichi said.

Atsushi and Mamoru nodded their thanks.

"First, Yuji, Atsushi-san is your godfather."

Mae trembled with terror. So this was the man they were raising Yuji for.

"Your mother and father appointed him to take care of you if anything happened to them, but he has many jobs other than writing that made this impossible."

"Mother and father?" Yuji whispered.

"Your mother and I are not your birth parents, though we love you as if you were our own, never fear." Mamoru gave Yuji some time to absorb this, carefully appraising the boy's expression.

Hiromi couldn't take the panic that was creeping in, so she reached across the table and clasped his hand. "Yuji, you are my son. Don't worry. Even if I didn't bear you, you are my son, always."

The eyes that met hers were filled with incomprehension.

"Yuji, I have always known. This changes nothing for me. You are my son. Am I still your mother?" She tried to keep her voice steady throughout her question, but it broke on the object.

Yuji stared at her for a chilling moment before squeezing her hand back. "Yeah," he whispered. He turned back to Mamoru. "And you're still Dad."

"I am honoured."

"What about Niichan?" Yuji's eyes sought Seiichi's now.

"We share no blood, but you are still my little brother, Yuji," Seiichi promised. "Still a brat."

"But are you Mom and Dad's real son?"

Seiichi shook his head. "No. I am like you that way."

Yuji just breathed for a while after nodding. The table must have been intriguing given how intently he was studying it.

"You are doing well," Mamoru said, squeezing his shoulders. "Your calm is good. Nothing horrible has been said yet. We are still family even if we aren't related by blood. And your godfather is here for you now."

"Who were my blood parents?" Yuji whispered.

"I cannot tell you their names yet," Mamoru said, carefully not looking at Hiromi.

She could tell that her presence was the only reason this simple information was not being handed over. It made her furious. "I'm not going to betray him," she hissed, glaring at Mamoru. "He's my precious son. If you're so finicky, I'll plug my ears and hum."

Now Mamoru met her gaze, appraising her. She could see the contempt that characterized the man behind the veil of Mamoru peering out at her. Her glare deepened.

"Hey now," said Atsushi, waving an arm between them. "There's no need for this. Hiromi-chan, I'm sure you're trustworthy. Mamoru-kun knows that or he wouldn't have let you stay for so long. Right?"

The man pretending to be Mamoru studied her despite the attempted interruption. The contempt faded slightly, but somehow Mae understood that this wasn't the mask of Mamoru being snapped back into place. No, whoever this man was had softened towards her slightly. "I trust in her moral fibre when it comes to Yuji. That much I can say without reservation. However, the more knowledge you hold, the more dangerous it is for you, Mae."

She flinched. He had never called her that name since they had walked out of that sweets shop all those years ago together. She had always been Hiromi. "Dangerous how, sir?" she asked. "The dangers you have been watching for have not appeared in all these years. Your paranoia has not been rewarded."

"The danger exists," Atsushi insisted. "What is going on isn't exactly known, but whoever went after his mother wasn't caught. I've been hunting alongside others for years. Nothing solid. My master suspects someone, but we cannot find him or proof."

"Do you want me to leave the room?" she asked, keeping her gaze on Mamoru. "I can go see if my friends at the teahouse want some company."

* * *

Takashi appraised Mae and her offer silently while he felt the tension and fear stiffen Yuji's shoulders beneath his hands. The boy was beginning to figure out just how divided his parents were, and it was scaring him. However, Yuji's fear wasn't the priority here. Secrecy was.

"That's a good idea," he said. "Thank you for offering."

She froze as though she hadn't expected him to agree before nodding and slipping the mask of Hiromi back on. Squeezing Yuji's hand one last time and giving him a smile, she pushed back her chair and stalked to the door, nabbing her coat off the hook as she passed. The door shut firmly behind her.

"Why can't Mom know?" asked Yuji.

"Because she is not like Seiichi, your godfather, me, or our master. She is not a ninja. She cannot defend these secrets, so it is better to not have her carry them. That is why she cannot know what we are about to tell you. If the people who killed your blood mother come for Hiromi, it is better for her to be ignorant."

Doubt was written plain across Yuji's face as he looked up at him, but Takashi didn't allow any uncertainty.

"This is why we insist on secrecy for your training. If it became known that you were learning to fight, rumours would grow and spread and bring the attention of those who killed your blood mother here to threaten us. You have kept the secret well so far, which is why we haven't been targeted." Mamoru glanced at Jiraiya, who nodded.

"Even I didn't know where you were being hidden until I was told."

"Your parents were ninja of Konoha."

"Ninja…" Yuji didn't look especially happy.

Mamoru could tell that Jiraiya-sama was confused by this lukewarm reaction. "No, they were not daring sailors. I apologize."

Yuji sighed. "Yeah, it kind of sucks. What sort of cool things do ninja do? They don't sail through storms or fight off sharks or hunt whales."

Mamoru struggled not to snicker.

Jiraiya-sama was gaping. "Oi, brat, are you for real?"

Yuji glanced at him. "Yeah. All ninja are just good for killing people. They're fighting some stupid war up north, right? Hoshi-jijii told me and Tori about it. He hears all sorts of rumours in the city."

Jiraiya-sama turned to Mamoru. "I'm extremely disappointed in you. How can this child not know how cool ninja are?"

Seiichi was struggling to keep a straight face. "Yuji, when I control the trees, that's a ninja technique."

Yuji turned to him. "What? Really?"

Seiichi nodded. "It's something the First Hokage could do."

"Oh, okay then."

"Your mother was a kunoichi, a female ninja, named Uzumaki Kushina. Your father was Namikaze Minato. Both were jounin rank in the village, which is the highest skill ranking you can achieve." Mamoru was gratified when Yuji looked a little more impressed.

"What rank are you?"

"I am a jounin as well. Seiichi is a chuunin. Atsushi-san is a jounin, but he is part of a renown group of ninja called the Sannin of Konoha. They are extremely powerful. Your father was his student."

"What's a chuunin?"

"Chuunin is the next rank down from jounin. Genin are the lowest."

"Three ranks. Huh. Not like on a big ship. There are cabin boys, navigators, hands, lookouts, gun officers, first mates, and captains."

Seiichi chuckled. Jiraiya-sama groaned.

Mamoru just sighed. "Yes, Yuji."

"Are you going to tell me more?"

Mamoru considered. _You must become a ninja so you can complete the task your father left for you, so you can properly protect our village as a jinchuuriki. You will be leaving us soon with Jiraiya-sama. Your name is…_ He glanced at Jiraiya-sama.

"Kid, would you like to hear about your parents? They had some great adventures."

Yuji looked a little less than enthusiastic. "Um, maybe later? After supper?"

Jiraiya-sama looked crushed, so Mamoru stepped in. "After supper then. Seiichi, can you go retrieve your mother?"

"Can I go get her too?" Yuji pleaded.

Mamoru nodded and let Yuji slip out from under his hands and hurtle towards his sandals as Seiichi followed more sedately.

After the sound of footsteps on gravel faded, Takashi turned to Jiraiya-sama. "He took it very well."

"He didn't care."

Takashi shook his head. "Of course not. He's had us as his parents. Expecting him to be hanging onto every word about his previously unknown real parents isn't realistic. He's in shock, just hiding it very well. He's going to need some time."

"You know him very well."

"Of course. I've been his father for nearly eight years."

"Minato is his father." Jiraiya-sama was scowling. "No matter what genjutsu covers his hair and eyes and makes him look a little more like a blend between you and Mae-san, he is Minato's son."

Anger flooded Takashi. "I've raised him. He's as good as my son."

"You've protected him and trained him."

Takashi slammed fists down on the counter and turned to glare at his superior. "And disciplined him. Taught him words and numbers. Read him stories before bed." He exhaled raggedly.

Jiraiya-sama looked taken aback, but then understanding and regret appeared. "I'm sorry. He has been your son. I never expected you to get so attached."

Takashi rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't either. I didn't even know I was until a moment ago. I have watched Mae clutch him close and make herself his mother, but I never thought I was like her. I thought I had managed to maintain better detachment than that."

"When you live in a role so long, it begins to creep in and become reality." Jiraiya-sama looked as though he spoke from experience. "Your longest mission before this one was two years?"

Takashi nodded. "When I was twenty-three. It was strange to go home. It hurt to leave some of the friends I made in my cover role. This is far more intense though."

"Of course it is." The Sannin sighed. "I can't take him yet. He's not ready."

"No," Takashi agreed, "he's not."

"I'll teach him what I can about politics and current events, but serious teaching isn't really my thing. Besides, I've got to keep on top of all the shit the other nations are up to right now. I'll be by when I can, but…"

"I can handle the rest. I didn't want to start him too early. He might have blabbed something."

"Yeah." Again, the Sannin sighed. "I'm used to getting them when they're twelve. What am I supposed to do with a seven-year-old?"

* * *

Yuji sprinted ahead of Seiichi, determined to be the first one to reach Mom. Everything was off kilter, the ground was bucking beneath his feet, but Mom would make it better. She always did.

She wasn't at the teahouse. Terror gripped him as the two ladies inside babbled worriedly that no, they hadn't seen his mother since yesterday, not really, unless you counted seeing her walk past through the window. She was heading for the docks, they thought.

Yuji sprinted off before they could finish gabbing.

Mom was standing out on the longest pier, a dark figure against the grey of the ocean and the sky. She was hugging herself against the early spring chill.

Yuji sprinted over the pier's damp planks, ignoring the schooners that would normally have caught his attention. The sound of his footsteps carried over the sound of the wavelets smacking the schooners' hulls and the creaking of taut lines.

"Mom!"

She turned after a moment and crouched, opening her arms to him. He slowed a little before slipping into her embrace. He was supposed to be a warrior about this, a ninja, but the ninja had sent his mom away, had upended his world. He was sick of ninja. He let himself bawl because Seiichi was far enough away that he would have time to stop.

"Hey now, hush, it's okay. It's okay, Yu-kun. I'm here. I'm still your mom, no matter what. And you're still my son, no matter what anyone says, okay?"

"Uh-huh."

She stroked his hair and rubbed circles on his back as he struggled to calm down.

"I don't want to be a ninja," he whimpered into her shoulder. "I want to be a sailor. I want to be a captain."

"Oh, Yuji, I'd love to tell you that you can do whatever you want, that you can be whatever you want, but I can't. I don't know what's going to happen. I can't make them let you."

"But I don't want to!"

"I know, baby, I do. I don't want to leave you. But some things are decided for us. Sometimes we aren't powerful enough to make things go our way no matter how much we cry or plead. The powerful people make the rules. The strong. You and I are not strong enough to make those people listen to us."

"You're going to leave me?" he whispered, terrified.

"Shh, no, of course not."

"But you just said—!"

"Shh, it's okay. When you're a grown man, of course you're going to leave me."

"But I'm only seven," he said.

"And that's why you're not leaving and neither am I." She pulled back and smiled brightly at him, but there were tears on her cheeks.

"Mom—"

"Hush."

"Mom!"

"It's nothing. Did Atsushi-san tell you about your parents?"

"You and Dad are my parents!"

She smiled again but tapped his nose. "That's not very nice to your poor mother and father. I'm sure they very much wanted to be your parents, but they were unable to, so your father and I were lucky enough to get to be. But you should still learn about them. I'm sure your mother spoke to you every day when you were in her tummy."

Yuji considered this quietly. "How old was I when you met me?"

"A week old. You were so happy to have something other than goat's milk."

He wrinkled his nose. "But I thought moms only make milk when they've had a baby? That cat did…."

Mom pursed her lips. "I was having a baby, but my baby died. She died before she was born, like that kitten that got strangled by the umbilical cord."

Yuji stared at his mom, horrified and uncomprehending.

"I was so happy that you needed me. I was so happy that I could give you what you needed."

"Do you light incense for her?"

Mom shook her head. "She didn't have a name and was buried in my old town. She didn't have time to breathe in a soul. She would not have lived a good life, if she had lived. I was very poor and had a pretty bad job before your father brought you to me."

"Is that why you love Dad?"

"Exactly. Your dad was very kind."

"But he kicked you out and you fight all the time."

"Yes. But he was very kind to let me be your mother."

"If you split up like Kin's parents, I want to go with you."

"I don't think you would be allowed to, but I'm glad you'd want to." Mom glanced over his shoulder, and Yuji knew that Seiichi-niichan had caught up. "Wipe your eyes. We can't let your brother see that you haven't been the perfect warrior."

Yuji dragged the back of his hand over his eyelids, smearing the tears into nothingness.

"Now take my hand," she said as she stood up. "Let's go see how your father has fared in the war against your mussels."


	4. Chapter 4

Yuji leaned back against the tree trunk he was sprawled in front of. He was still warm enough despite only wearing a t-shirt and pants because of the escaping exercises that were part of the night training routine. If he could keep Dad and Seiichi from cornering him for an hour, he won.

The best he had managed over the years was half an hour. He was mighty proud of that, all things considered.

Seiichi-nii crossed his arms and looked down at him with a sigh, a dark shape in the gloom. Yuji could just barely make out his features. "You know I can't do that," his brother said, shaking his head.

"It's damn annoying to never be able to go anywhere without you or Dad. You'll be the scariest thing at the test of courage, with that face of yours!" Yuji shot back, sneering. "Everyone knows you tail me. People say, 'Oh, how sweet! Look: it's your stalker brother who still lives at home even though he's twenty-three and should be married to some nice girl by now!' Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is?"

Seiichi raised an eyebrow. "We're not supposed to leave you alone. I know you're getting competent, but until you can beat Father and me, you aren't strong enough to be on your own. You're much farther along than children at the Academy would be since you've been privately tutored since you were four, but no genin is powerful enough to fend off the people that killed Kushina-sama."

"But do you two have to follow me around so obviously? Can't you be all sneaky about it?"

"We could," Niichan admitted, "but it's funnier to watch you get ribbed. You used to follow me everywhere. I'm just paying back the favour."

"Bastard," Yuji muttered.

"What a foul mouth you have when Mom's not around."

"Hah! She's the one that taught me how to swear properly. She knows words even Hoshi-jijii won't say. Prostitutes learn these things from each other and their clients."

Seiichi shook his head. "Only you would hero worship her for surviving as a whore."

"Only Mom could make prostitution cool. Besides, even ninja know how cool prostitutes are: kunoichi pose as them sometimes during missions. Whores know _everything_."

Seiichi laughed and leaned forward to ruffled Yuji's hair. "You're a freaky kid, you know that?"

"You're just jealous that I'm more adaptable than you. Besides, Mom wants to be a geisha, which is epic. The only thing that would be more epic would be if Mom was the captain of a ship."

"You take being a supportive son to new highs and lows, Yuji."

"Shut up."

"Anyway, skipping back to your complaint, I guess for the test of courage I can tail you discretely or warn Father to do the same."

"And will you obviously be somewhere else?" Yuji pressed, scowling.

"We'll use a clone, fine."

"Finally. Geez, this had better become your standard modus operandi. It's getting damn embarrassing to have Dad on my tail."

"Damn embarrassing, is it?" said a voice right behind Yuji's ear.

With a squawk and some flailing, Yuji got turned around to spot Dad crouching with a broad smirk on his face. "Goddammit, Dad, why do you have to be so creepy sometimes?"

"Because you still flail like a civilian. You should have been halfway across the clearing the moment I breathed too close to you. You didn't even draw a kunai. If I had been trying to kill you, you would have been dead before I had spoken."

Yuji stuck his tongue out before he turned to frown at his brother, who was doubled over and shaking with mirth. "You could have warned me, you douche."

"I'm going to introduce your mouth to soap," his dad said mildly.

"You don't threaten Mom with soap."

"If you keep this up, I will. Usually, she keeps a civil tongue in her head."

"I'm not even saying any of the really bad words!"

"And if you do, I'm going to scrub your tongue clean of their taint with a steel bristle brush and lye soap." Dad was deadly serious.

Yuji gulped.

"Only street rats should have a vocabulary as bad as your mother's at twelve."

"I'm almost thirteen, Old Man. And Mom was a street rat. Sort of."

"But you're not. Yondaime-sama was more impressive when angry _because_ he didn't start running his mouth."

"And my blood mom?"

Dad grimaced. "Kushina-sama was of a more… exuberant temperament."

"So she swore lots." Yuji grinned.

"She very much lived up to the stereotype that redheads are hotheaded."

Yuji chuckled. "See? Both my moms are badass."

Dad pinched the bridge of his nose as Seiichi snickered.

* * *

Mom was dancing to the radio when Seiichi walked into the living room four weeks later. The radio was tuned to a pop station, and she was… what was it called? Ah, liquid dancing to the beat. Yuji was tucked into the corner of the couch, clapping out the beat with his friend Tori-kun, whose face was a rich blend of fascination and horror.

This wasn't unusual. She had done this a bit during their first year together, Seiichi recalled. Her habit had petered out as the months had passed, and she had instead focused on fitting in with the more traditional crowd that called Kirigishi Village home. She had started again when Yuji, who had been nine at the time, had witnessed a group of people around Seiichi's age breakdancing during their traditional summer visit to South Port, which was the biggest city on the south coast of Fire. Mom's status of "rad" had been assured when she had winked at them and slipped into the group only to start showing off skills she must have picked up during her prostitution days. Dad hadn't been around that day, fortunately, or he might have had something to say about acting one's age.

Mom looked older than her years, but she moved like someone much younger.

Yuji had pestered her into dancing at home since that demonstration.

A techno song faded in as Mom beckoned Yuji off the couch. "Come on, stick in the mud! You're not just going to watch me." She fixed Tori with a glare, but the other boy's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically, waving his hands in front of himself.

She grabbed Yuji and forced him to shuffle in sync with her as Seiichi made himself comfortable against the doorframe. Next to Mom, Yuji looked a little spastic, but he was improving. Seiichi just wasn't sure how this skill would be useful even if Yuji was better at it than Bunshin no Jutsu. Shaking his head with a grin when they switched styles as the next song started, Seiichi pushed off the doorframe and headed into the kitchen to get them glasses of water.

Tori-kun was still glued to the couch, looking traumatized by the way Mom was using her hips, when Seiichi got back. Swallowing snickers, he passed the kid a cup as Yuji kept to moves that required less shaking of his butt. "What's that one called?" Seiichi asked.

Yuji shrugged and kept going.

"Crank that. Came out the year I got pregnant," Mom said, stepping his way and stealing one of his glasses to chug it down. "Old school, but hey, why not? So what brings you back from work early without your father, boy?"

Seiichi snorted. "Dad's finishing up a winch for the _Runner_ 's crew. He says we're hitting the city this weekend. _Runner_ 's captain's gonna take us there as payment."

Mom nodded in time with the beat. "Cool. Sounds good." She began to shuffle back out into the middle of the living room.

"Atsushi-jijii is meeting us there."

She missed a beat as Yuji jump-turned to face him. "Really? The old perv's gonna meet us?"

Seiichi nodded.

"Cool. Mom, maybe he can hit clubs with us since Seiichi-nii and Dad are sticks in the mud about it."

She snorted. "You think they're gonna let someone your age in? Hah!"

"I'll go in under—"

Seiichi twitched slightly before Yuji could say "henge", a warning.

Yuji smoothly recovered. "—a really big coat and tall boots."

"Pfft!" crowed Tori-kun, clapping. "You're gonna look like a fool."

"But I'll be a dancing fool," Yuji said, crouching slightly and doing that flapping motion with his knees, "jerking" if Seiichi remembered correctly.

Mom groaned at the awful phrase, but there was an edge of fear to it.

* * *

Mae sat in the prow, staring out at the waves they were ploughing over as the crew of the _Runner_ adjusted the sails and shouted nonsense to each other. Yuji was helping them with the lines, ecstatic that he was finally out at sea for real again instead of tacking around the village harbour. Mamoru and Seiichi were in the stern with the captain, discussing who-knew-what.

It had only taken one look at Mamoru this morning as they had loaded their bags into the ship and set sail to know that this was it, the day she had been dreading for more than twelve years now.

How would they stop her from going after them? Probably by erasing her memory somehow. If ninja could make Yuji a curly-haired brunette when he was actually blond, she had no doubt they could fiddle with her memories of the last twelve years.

What would they make her remember instead? Where would they leave her? What goals would they put in her head?

Shivering, Mae tucked her head between her knees and chest.

* * *

Mamoru shouldered Yuji and Hiromi's bags as Seiichi escorted Hiromi in her search for a grocery store. The pair pushed through the press of the crowds near the huge harbour, heading towards the nearest alley that would take them to the shopping district a little further up the slopes of the long-dead volcano that South Port was built upon. Yuji lugged Mamoru and Seiichi's extra satchels, which were far lighter than the other bags, in Mamoru's wake. They were heading in nearly the opposite direction and sticking with the noisy masses.

"Dad, where are we staying this time?" Yuji shouted, tugging on his shirt.

"Atsushi booked a suite for us. He said something about a view of the harbour." He checked building numbers as he led the way onto the boulevard at the ritzier end of the waterfront. 192. There it was. Yuji gaped at its twelve floors for a moment before scampering after him. It wasn't the nicest building on the row, but it was swankier than anything Mamoru would normally have dared to walk into without a target waiting on one of the floors. He shook that image out of his head. It had literally been ages since he had been assigned an assassination mission.

He wrangled with the receptionist and accepted three copies of the keycard before calling Yuji away from poking at the tropical plant growing in the oversized pot. He zipped past the feeble elevator and headed for the stairs, Yuji whining on his heels.

"Sixth floor."

"Goddammit, Dad! Do you know how many steps that is?"

"Why don't you count them as we go? Then you can go on and on and on and—"

"Dad."

"—on about them to your mother."

"You think you're so funny."

"And you think you can get away with being this lippy. That's okay, son; I'm sure you'll see the light by the sixty-fifth step."

"… I hate you."

Mamoru grinned. Yuji wasn't panting by that sixty-fifth step, but he was breathing a tiny bit harder than normal. Mamoru felt appeased as he snicked his keycard in and out of the door handle. There was a beep, and he twisted the handle and pushed the door open.

Yuji whistled brokenly as he shuffled in around him as Mamoru held the heavy door open for him. "That's a cool view."

"That it is," called a voice from the living room.

Mamoru set the bags down in the foyer and headed into the living room to bow deeply before the couch, where the old Sannin was seated. "Jiraiya-sama, thank you for seeing to our comfort this way."

"Head up, Takashi-kun. Even that Kakashi kid doesn't bow that way to me anymore, and he used to be more hung up on protocol than anyone else."

Mamoru raised his head. "I am the Hokage's hand, Jiraiya-sama."

"… Dad?" Yuji looked a little nonplused. "Did the old perv just call you Takashi?"

Jiraiya-sama growled at his son's less than polite nickname for him and waved the boy to take a seat. "Your father took on a name for the mission, just as your mother and your brother did. It's not safe to use your real name for undercover missions. We did the same for you."

"Yeah, I know my blood mom and dad named me Naruto. I just didn't think that Dad and Seiichi… What's Mom's real name?"

"Mae."

"Huh. What about Niichan?"

Mamoru took over for this one. "He was codenamed Tenzou when I first met him just before we left the village with you. His real name is classified, as is his life outside of ANBU. Unlike most agents, he doesn't have a village persona."

Yuji's brow wrinkled with confusion. "But your name really is Takashi."

"I was given the name by my parents, yes. It is what I am commonly known in Konoha as."

"Why wouldn't Niichan…?"

Mamoru shook his head. "I wasn't told. My understanding is that there are special circumstances surrounding his childhood, similar to you. He was sent with me to be your brother so that he would acclimatize to normal civilian interactions between family and friends. You've done a good job showing him how to be a brother."

Yuji looked awed and a little sad. "So it was all for me? You guys wouldn't have been family without me?"

Mamoru got up and ruffled the boy's hair. "You are very rude to say so. Acting as though you are the centre of our world! Tch!"

A frail smile replaced the forlorn expression on his son's face. "I'm gonna go claim a room, okay?"

"You do that. Take that ton you call a bag in with you. We'll be here for a week, but don't get too comfortable—"

"We might have to move on the fly, I know," Yuji said as he rolled his eyes and walked away to peer in every room. "Because we're not at home anymore, there's no telling how many ninja are around every corner. Blah, blah, blah."

"Don't take this lightly, brat," said Jiraiya-sama. "South Port is the biggest port in Fire. That used to be East Port, but it's mostly a ghost town since Water Country closed their borders on top of the halt of trade between Lightning and Fire because of the skirmishes. All the gangs from East Port relocated here over the years to compete with the local gangs. It's not settled. Territory brawls spring up even on the best days during tourist season. Ninja come here to knock off targets, to keep fingers on the pulse, and to stir up trouble."

"If you say so. I call this room." Yuji scampered back into the foyer to grab his duffle bag and drag it into the room.

"Get back out here, brat. I've got some questions for you."

Yuji reappeared two minutes later.

Jiraiya-sama ran a hand through his shaggy white hair. "Have you been told about the fox?"

Mamoru blinked.

Yuji nodded slowly after glancing at him carefully for permission. "Genie-san mentioned it to me when I turned ten. He's been telling me more and more about it. Seiichi lends me the journal sometimes, so long as I promise not to read his cover entries. Genie-san and I get into huge discussions about the fox and how he's important and how Kushina-chan dealt with him."

"So he's been instructing you on how your mother controlled the beast." The aged jounin looked relieved.

"Wait, what? My mom?"

"'Kushina-chan' is your mother," Mamoru said. "She was the last carrier of the Fox."

Yuji looked as though someone had brained him. "But Genie-san said that she was a little girl."

"She was when she received the fox."

"But that means that Genie-san is _really old_!"

Mamoru laughed. "Sarutobi-sama is getting on in years, yes. He had mostly retired to let your father rule over the village before you were born."

Yuji gobbled for a few moments, obviously trying to catch up. "So Genie-san is… Oh! How is that even possible?"

"Secret sealing techniques. Maybe someday I'll teach you," Jiraiya-sama said. "It's a Konoha secret though, so you'll have to prove yourself worthy."

"But it's so useful! It's like being able to send a letter instantly. Why wouldn't we share that with everyone?"

"Because what if the enemy ninja in Kumo, who attack our northern border every other week even after all these years just because it's habit now all because of the Hyuuga Fiasco, what if they could use it too? Worse, what if they could tap into our letters? See who we're going to send to counter them, see what important Fire people are going to be where? This is why we don't share, kid. We need any kind of edge we can get. The balance between the five major villages is tricky. I told you this. We're not at peace, but we're not engaged in an all out war either. If Kumo would stop dicking around and accept that non-aggression pact they've been throwing in our faces for seven years now, we'd have a ceasefire across the board."

Yuji grimaced. "Okay. But I still think it's silly."

"Brat, didn't you listen to a word I said? It's not stupid; it's vegetatively dumb. This entire situation is beyond dumb. The way the nations interact is moronic. The way Kumo keeps expanding and amassing more and more military might, making all the other nations nervous and do the same, that's stupid." Jiraiya-sama leaned back in the couch and sighed. "But I've been told I'm even more of a fool for hoping that someday we'll find peace, that all this bullshit gets wiped away and we can do things like share useful jutsu with everybody to make life better."

"Then I guess that means I'm a fool too?" asked Yuji.

"You got that right, kid. You want to be my fool apprentice? We can go try to show the world who's the fool together."

Yuji chewed on his cheek for a moment. "I guess so, Fool-sensei."

Jiraiya-sama grinned. "Excellent. Welcome to the club."

Mamoru shook his head and went to claim his own room.

"You still going to share with Mae-san?" asked the old jounin.

Mamoru glanced back and shrugged. "She suspects something is up, but it might reassure her a bit. I'd rather she didn't panic until the end."

Yuji was glancing between them suspiciously, but both men ignored his questions.

* * *

Two nights after their arrival, Seiichi glanced into his parents' room to spot his mother tugging a pair of skinny jeans out of the bottom of her duffle bag and throwing them on the bed she and his father shared. Father had been a little nonplussed to learn that this place didn't stock futons and that instead he was expected to share a queen-sized bed with Hiromi. From the bags under his eyes, going from sleeping in separate futons to a bed together had unsettled him. Seiichi was torn between pity and vicious glee.

Mom then dug out a vibrant purple top that was low cut enough that Seiichi was certain it was from the old days.

Yuji was crowing with glee in the living room, bouncing around Atsushi-sama, who had agreed to escort him and Hiromi to a dance club and help get the underage boy in so long as he agreed to promise his mother he wouldn't drink at all. Father had been out scouting when this had been settled.

Seiichi wasn't looking forward to explaining why everyone was missing when Mamoru got back because of course he was the one that had to stay behind and guard the suite. Not that he really wanted to go clubbing, but being forced to stay behind like this when everyone was so wound up was more than a little unfair. Atsushi-sama looked over the moon at the chance to ogle club-going women. Yuji was showing the old man his "killer dance moves".

After locating a plunge bra, Mom ripped off her shirt and regular bra without bothering with the door and then began fumbling with the button of her trousers.

Rolling his eyes, Seiichi shut the door for her. Mom had never been shy, but she had usually tried to act as though the thought of her sons staring at her naked body wasn't quite the normal way of things. "Practice the henge you're going to wear," said Seiichi, turning to Yuji.

Sticking out his tongue, his brother ran through the handseals quickly and came out looking like Father had about eight years ago. It was a little disturbing. "How's that?"

Jiraiya-sama crowed with laughter. "You look just like Takashi's Mamoru henge but with less grey! I've never seen him as the clubbing type. This'll be interesting."

Seiichi walked over and poked a finger at the henge's eye.

His father's image dodged properly despite the two-foot difference between Yuji and the henge's eyes.

"Good. Mom will flip out, you realize."

Dad's face took on Yuji's smile. "I know! It'll be so funny."

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

Seiichi spun to take in Mom's unamused face. Despite the years, the skinny jeans and purple wrap sleeveless top fit her very well. She wore enough makeup that she could have passed for being about five years younger than she actually was.

Atsushi-sama wolf whistled. Mom showed him the finger. "I was a whore, but I wouldn't bang you if you paid me, old man."

The image of his father bouncing over to his mom and clapping enthusiastically would never leave Seiichi and would forever make it difficult for him to take Dad seriously.

"You are so rad, Mom!"

"Why thank you, m'boy. Do you have to wear your father's face? It's a little creepy. He wouldn't go clubbing with me if I paid him."

Father's face grinned Yuji's grin again. "So this'll be a once in a lifetime chance! Come on! It's either this or I go as a girl. I'm not so good at adult men. Getting them to sync up with me properly is hard. But Niichan already tested me, and I passed."

"Fine, fine. Just don't blame me when your dad blows a gasket." Mom grabbed Yuji's hand and swung it. "You ready to rock the beat? They might even have a DJ."

"That would be so cool!"

The two headed toward the door as Atsushi-sama pushed himself off the couch. "Have fun keeping house, Seiichi-kun."

Seiichi was tempted to flip his superior off as the door closed behind the trio. Maybe Mom had rubbed off on him too.

* * *

"Okay," said Mae, glancing up at her son and trying not to freak out at how Mamoru's face was grinning at her, "I've got to explain some things to you."

"Okay, shoot!" Mamoru's… No, Yuji's teeth were bright white in the streetlights.

The click of her low heels on cobblestones was loud in the not quite empty street, but Yuji was silent in his sandals, as was Atsushi-san. Goddamn ninja. "Clubs aren't just a place to dance. When I worked the streets, I would go there for a break, but other people use them like I used the streets or the brothel: as a place to pick a partner up. We're just going to dance, but some people will be too drunk to pick up on our 'not interested in sex' vibe."

Yuji nodded, only the slightest flush on his face.

Mae struggled not to stare; she had never seen Mamoru blush before. Damn but she had missed out. This was so creepy. She felt creepy. That was her son. "Anyway, these people are going to try to touch you, maybe even in places that really aren't appropriate if they're really far gone. You use your wicked skillz to get out of their way before it gets to that, you hear me? Guy or girl, you don't let them touch you like that. Now, some of them are going to try to use dancing as an excuse."

"Like that grinding thing you talked about."

"Yeah, like that. Tasteless. You aren't allowed to do it until you're at least eighteen."

"So none of that. Okay, got it. Can't we just go to a place where that doesn't happen?"

Mae's lip curled. "Mood changes quickly on the dance floor sometimes. I'll try to pick a nicer place, but there's no guarantees. Just try to stick close to me, okay?"

"Got it."

Mae reached up and ruffled Mamoru's oh so familiar hair. The illusion reacted properly and made something in her chest ache when Yuji smirked down at her.

"Now, if there is a DJ, you need to know some etiquette…"

* * *

Mae-san was struggling. Jiraiya could see it in the way she was oscillating between leaning closer to the henge and maintaining the usual space she kept between herself and her son. She knew the truth of the illusion, but she wanted to buy into it so badly. Poor woman. Jiraiya had to wonder how Takashi-kun handled it.

Mae-san picked out a likely club, one that didn't have a long lineup outside the door full of giggly drunk girls, which disappointed Jiraiya, but he let it go, headed straight to the front of the line, and nodded at the doorman, shamelessly abusing the power of genjutsu. Since Mae and Yuji looked more than old enough, the burly doorman nodded respectfully and let them in without blinking at the wave of protest from the lineup.

He wove through the gyrating bodies and flashing lights, bound for the bar. He felt a little out of place, but it wasn't so bad that a few drinks wouldn't ease it. Mae and Naruto peeled off halfway across the dance floor and found themselves some space as the current song started getting blended in with a new track, the DJ carefully matching the beats on a battered set of turntables with a switchboard that had definitely been built about thirty years ago.

Sound equipment was impossible to get new these days. Most of the speakers had to be from the last brief peace between the Five Nations. Anything electronic came from a city hidden deep in Wind Country's outback where researchers worked tirelessly to copy outdated technology with whatever minerals and oil they could dig up out there or have Suna ninja sneak out of Earth. Most of Sand's GDP was generated by Silicon City, or Circuit City as it was colloquially referred to. Currently, the city wasn't exporting unless you happened to be a billionaire. It was part of Wind Country's way of thumbing its nose at everyone else for letting the Chuunin Exam idea get blasted to pieces. The exposure Suna would have gotten at the gladiator-style final exam would have more than made up for their remote location.

Jiraiya sipped his plain sake and searched the pulsing sea of dancers for a glimpse of his two charges. He found nothing until he escaped the bar with a bottle to see him through the evening and found a raised section of seats and tables for those who had come to drink and watch rather than dance. He located the duo dancing their own way in the middle of a very small space, surrounded by some people who obviously weren't as versed in the fine art of hip-hop besides the most basic bouncing to the beat and waving their arms in the air. As Jiraiya watched and partook in the passable liquor, other competent dancers began to gravitate towards them, though they gravitated towards them as well. Soon a little knot of about nine people were having what Jiraiya assumed was a dance off. Each had their chance in the centre of the circle their fellow contestants carved out of the crowd and maintained for them.

After one young man managed some very impressive breakdance moves that could have hurt a lot, Mae took over and made water look clumsy and jittery even as she somehow managed to emphasize every beat. She quickly switched it up with something a little more flailing, something similar to what Naruto had been showing off before they had left. Without missing a beat, she began to retreat back to the edge of the circle and beckoned Naruto forward.

The kid had a blast, grinning fit to split his face in half, before relinquishing the centre to a newcomer that tried out something that looked very robotic.

And then something made Jiraiya glance at the club door and grimace.

Takashi-kun had found them.

* * *

Mamoru's momentum dissipated when he hit the edge of the dance floor. Seiichi had told him where they had headed but hadn't been able to give him a particular destination. He had roamed the streets instead until a few young women in line for this club had squealed to each other about how similar he looked to some other "hunk" who had just jumped the line. He had made quick work of the doorman, which helped get rid of the bad taste in his mouth.

The club, as all others he had ever visited, stank of sweat, alcohol, and pheromones, though it was early enough in the night that the last was only just beginning to mingle in the reek. A hand wave caught his attention; Jiraiya-sama was seated higher up. He made his way towards the man, weaving carefully through the dancers that were staggering more than dancing this close to the bar. He settled on the chair Jiraiya-sama offered him and shook his head at a waitress carrying a tray at another table who glanced questioningly at him.

"They're over there," the old jounin said, gesturing at a little group that was taking up a disproportionate amount of space and attracting a lot of attention from those dancing just outside the cordon they were maintaining around the floor they had claimed. The man in the centre spun on his head before snapping back to his feet in time with the beat. Those watching cheered.

Mamoru picked his doppelgänger out of the cordon easily. The boy really had taken his face. His _younger_ face. "That brat."

Jiraiya-sama laughed. "Hmm, yes, he claimed yours was the only adult male henge he could do well enough."

"Where is she?"

Jiraiya glanced at him with an unfathomable expression. "Two people to his left."

Mamoru picked her out. She had an air about her that very much reminded him of how she had been when he had first met her. "She must have been keeping those clothes at the bottom of her drawers. Thank goodness. I can't imagine what sort of talk would have gone around if she had worn those back in the village."

"It's not something you'll have to worry about anymore."

He nodded. "Why did you bring them?"

"Let them have their fun. That's what this last week is for. Besides, I get to have all these wonderfully energetic young women performing for me. Excellent research material. Anything to report?"

Mamoru shook his head. "Same as the other nights. I saw many sneaking around, but they didn't seem interested in us, just their own targets. Seiichi hadn't detected any undue attention directed at our building when I checked in with him."

"Hmm. Well, that's good. What now? Will you go back out there to double-check, or are you going to keep watch here with me? Or maybe even go join them?"

Mamoru scoffed. "I know as much as that group bobbing in front of the speakers that the DJ is eyeing malevolently for messing with his sound."

"But you knew that the DJ was irked about his sound quality."

He narrowed his eyes at Jiraiya-sama's grin. "And you think people wouldn't notice how similar Yuji and I are?"

"You're the undercover specialist. You could alter your face enough to take care of that problem."

Mamoru just shook his head.

"Oh, there he goes! She taught him, I suppose?"

Yuji had claimed the centre of the circle now. He wasn't quite as good as his company, but they seemed willing to give him time in the spotlight.

"I guess so. Seiichi said they would practice while I was at work sometimes."

Jiraiya-sama shook his head. "He's nothing like his father. I couldn't see Minato here in a million years. Dragging him to a quiet pub was a struggle. He was more at home in the library or at a training ground. And his mother… No, she was more focused on being strong. She liked a good party, but this is more modern than her scene. Too much of a tomboy to be interested in the clubs like this one in Otafuku Gai."

Mamoru glanced around, praying that no one had heard that last bit. Otafuku was too close to Konoha for it not to be suspicious.

"Ah, the South! All the wonderful women here! The heat that makes them wear such nice swimsuits! The music!" Jiraiya-sama raised his sake dish, grinning blissfully. "Southern Fire is a treasure beyond compare."

Mamoru was tempted to bury his face in his palms as people glanced at the old jounin with raised eyebrows despite how loud the music was. The waitress was eyeing him less than happily though, so Mamoru waved her over and asked for a light beer. It was just enough that her scowl slipped behind her professional mask. He tipped her well enough that she started smiling again as she disappeared to get his order.

Purple caught his eye as Hiromi—no, she was Mae right now—as Mae took over the circle and proved as never before that she had nothing in the way of shyness. Not with the way she was apparently flirting with another member of the circle, moving deliberately to draw his eyes to her hips. Mamoru smirked and shook his head. That woman. Her target bowed and removed an imaginary hat in her direction with a flourish to concede defeat. Yuji looked faintly horrified. It was enlightening. Mamoru had never had the chance to witness his face while wearing that expression.

Mae eased Yuji's horror by laughing and turning to him while beckoning him closer, still moving with the music. Yuji took her hand and let her spin and dip him, laughing with the rest of the circle as she set him back on his feet. She leaned close and shouted something in his ear loudly enough that he nodded and waved her off while returning to his place in the circle as someone else took over the centre.

She pushed through the throng, accepting pats on the back and hand clasps and nodding at those who acknowledged her without invading her space as she made her way to the bar only to notice Jiraiya waving her over. Her eyes then found Mamoru's, and she paused, her gaze flicking back to Yuji, as though to check that it was really him. Her smile faded a bit, but she approached them just as his beer arrived. Mae scooped up the tumbler and slurped at the foam before taking a large gulp and dragging another chair over to their table, grinning at his raised eyebrow.

"Who said you could steal my beer?" he asked.

"Well, you obviously ordered it just for me. I didn't want to insult your generosity."

Jiraiya-sama snorted and refilled his sake dish. "Getting too hot for you out there?"

Mae shook her head. "It was getting a little unnerving. I can't imagine Mamoru here out there, but then Yuji goes into the centre and everything is just so weird. I need alcohol to handle it." She reached out and ruffled Mamoru's hair as she stole his beer again.

He tolerated this with a glance skyward. "You've got me pegged."

"Aw! That's such a shame!" She ran a finger down his arm. "You're graceful. I'm sure you'd be fine. And you're a quick study, I'm sure."

He stole his beer back and took a long pull. "You need to get me far drunker than this to make me even consider it. Which you don't have time to do. Look."

She followed his finger and spotted how a pair of girls from outside the circle were getting far too close to Yuji. Growling, she snagged Mamoru's beer, tossed back the dregs, and stalked back out on the floor, but not before catching the waitress. "Keep his beer coming, or whatever else you can get him to drink that's heavier," she told the girl, gesturing at him. "I'll cover it."

Nodding with a smile, the waitress headed back to the bar to nab a pitcher full of cheap beer and was quick to refill his glass.

Mae had disappeared back into the throng, safe from his glare, as Jiraiya-sama snickered.


	5. Chapter 5

Mamoru woke to a dull ache behind his eyes, a dry mouth, and Hiromi curled up half on his chest. Anything warm exerted an irresistible force of gravity on her sleeping body, he had discovered over the past couple nights. Grumbling, he pushed her off and made his way to the door through the gloom. He could hear her shuffling into the warm spot he had left as he carefully listened at the door for anything odd before slipping out.

Jiraiya-sama was in his usual spot on the couch, writing in the soft yellow light of a table lamp. He nodded acknowledgement to Mamoru without looking up.

Leaving the old jounin to it, Mamoru padded into the kitchen and got himself a glass of water from the tap without bothering with a light.

The barest suggestion of a smudge of blue-grey on the eastern horizon told him it was around four in the morning. They had gotten back at around two. He swallowed the dregs from his glass and found his way to an armchair in the living room, which he slumped into, rubbing his temples. "Anything?"

"All's quiet. Are you going to go back to bed?"

Mamoru shook his head. "I'm awake now. I'll keep watch."

"She being clingy?"

Mamoru ignored that.

"A specialist is coming on Saturday. I requested the best. I'm fond of her, so there's no need to take drastic measures to ensure security."

"Hmm."

Jiraiya-sama arched an eyebrow at him. "You are a cold man. A good ANBU agent, but cold."

Mamoru frowned at him. "I'm just doing my job."

The Sannin nodded, but his raised eyebrows conveyed disbelief. "I heard a rumour about you from your comrades the last time I was in the village. I don't know if you know, but Hyuuga Sora has two children with her husband."

Mamoru crumbled, and Takashi struggled to keep the pain off his face. "I thought that was what would happen."

"But you still agreed to the mission."

"She refused me. There was no point in pining." Takashi shrugged. "Nothing would have changed her mind. She is stubborn in that way."

"She is a Hyuuga."

Takashi paused. "You're saying bloodline was part of it."

"For them and the Uchiha, it always is. The eyes don't always breed true, so they pair their children carefully. She couldn't have accepted you even if she had wanted to."

Takashi sighed. "I considered that, but that didn't seem to be her primary objection. Either way, the path is closed."

"Sarutobi-sensei was talking about easing you back into village life."

"How so?" He wasn't particularly interested in going back to life in Konoha knowing that all his old bonds would be frayed if not fractured. Thirteen years of separation…

"He was hoping you would temporarily drop out of ANBU and take on a genin team."

"Heh. I'd rather be sent back out and start all over again."

"That's what he thought too. But I think you need time being Takashi. You've been Mamoru for too long. I'm seconding Sensei's recommendation."

Takashi bowed his head before meeting Jiraiya-sama's eyes. "I'll consider it."

"Oh, and you are a quick study, but I think you need a lot more practice before you try that breakdancing thing again."

Takashi managed to resist the urge to flip his superior off. Just barely.

* * *

Yuji was ecstatic that he and Mom managed to hit the dance floor almost every night until Saturday. He got to see all sorts of moves his mom hadn't been able to imitate well enough to teach him. Some of the breakers were so awesome! And jump style was so cool! And krumping! And c-walk! And all those different shuffle steps!

During the day, he and Mom would wander the streets, looking for groups that were doing what they did in the club in the light of day. They found a few, sometimes even managing to run into the people they had been dancing with the night before, not that they recognized him. Yuji didn't need to wear his dad's face and height during the day when no one was enforcing an age limit. They'd ask about him, especially when Dad was with them, but he and his mom would just say he was off somewhere else or sleeping.

If Yuji was lucky, sometimes the dancers they ran into a couple times would bear with him and slowly teach him new steps. Mom bullied Dad into learning some breaking moves with him once. Yuji had always known his dad was super strong, but even their temporary sensei had been wowed when Dad had managed the balancing and contorting without flinching. Dad just didn't have much of a sense for the music, which made Mom snicker.

Seiichi was a stick in the mud and just watched and laughed when he was with them.

But the old perv… Well, some of the b-girls and other female dancers had gotten sick of him. Yuji and Mom tried to stick with Niichan and Dad after that.

That was why Saturday threw him off so much. Dad was going to go out with them to grab stuff for breakfast and poke around as usual, but Seiichi grabbed Yuji's shoulder just before he headed out the door of their suite. "I've got something I need you to look at."

Yuji shared a glance with Mom. Oddly, fear was starting to creep into her face.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll go with you after breakfast. You have to come back and get me."

For some reason, Mom turned to Dad and studied his face for a moment before dropping into a crouch. "Yuji, come here for a sec." Her voice was wavering.

He hustled into her arms and hugged her tight, her fear beginning to infect him.

"I love you," she breathed into his hair. "Okay? Don't forget that."

Fear made him dig his nails into her back. "Mom, what—?"

"I'm just nervous because someone got murdered last night. It was in the papers this morning. I'm sure it will be fine. I'll see you when we get back with breakfast. Seiichi, get over here." Mom pushed him away and pulled Seiichi-nii into her arms for a moment as he patted her back. "We'll bring home crapes or something, okay?"

Dad nodded, promised to keep Mom in one piece, teased her for worrying for nothing, and shut the door behind them.

"What was that?" Yuji asked his brother.

Seiichi shrugged. "Who knows. Anyway, I got a message for you. It said I was supposed to show it to you right away."

"Geez, Genie-san can be kind of demanding. Couldn't it have waited until we got back?"

Niichan shrugged. "Come on."

Atsushi-jijii was sitting on the balcony, writing as usual, Yuji noted as he followed Seiichi into his room. The book was on his bedside table.

 _Naruto-kun,_ said the message for him below the text directing Seiichi to make him read it. This was the first time Genie-san had called him Naruto-kun.

_I know this will be difficult, but it is no longer safe for you and your family to remain as things are. My agents in the south have noted unusual activity, much of it pointed your way. We have been incredibly lucky that Mamoru managed to keep you hidden as long as he did, but not even he is perfect. How they caught wind of you, I cannot say for certain. It could have been several stories that someone very clever pieced together, like the date of your arrival, the strange appearance of your parents and brother, or how your family could not be traced backwards, though your father did leave false trails to muddy those waters for a time. You and Seiichi have no birth records anywhere, except flimsy ones Mamoru manufactured. It could have been Jiraiya's visits._

_The cause is not important anymore. The point is that we must break up your family for everyone's safety. The mission is over._

_Your father is returning to Konoha, as is Seiichi. Your mother will go into hiding._

As soon as Yuji read that, he threw aside the diary and sprinted for the door. Mom had known.

Seiichi ran after him, but Yuji ignored his orders to stop, to come back. Instead, he ploughed down the stairs. There was no sign of them in the lobby or in the street outside. The elevator was empty.

For the first time, Yuji loathed how Dad was a better ninja than him.

Crouching down in the lobby, he wrapped his arms around himself. "Mom."

* * *

Mae came to in an attic; the window had apparently been their entry point since Mamoru was standing guard in front of it. She considered panicking and beating him and howling her grief and terror in his face, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. So she just sat up and dusted off her shirt.

"Oh, you're awake." A woman wearing a white mask in the shape of a monkey's face with green and red markings on it emerged from the shadows.

"Who are you?" Mae asked cautiously.

"I'm here to make sure you're safe. I was supposed to edit you before you woke up, but—"

Mamoru shifted. "It's easier for you to buy into the memories if you have some affinity with them. I wanted your opinion." He moved away from the window and hunkered down near her. "What do you want to have lived instead?"

Mae froze. "So I'm not allowed to remember anything." Not allowed to recall watching Yuji grow up and return her love so unconditionally. Not allowed to languish in daydreams about waking up beside Mamoru or recall teaching Seiichi how to shave properly. Never again. Tears stung, but she had always suspected this would be how it would end.

"No. We can't take any chances. Yuji is more important than you can ever know. It's best for you if you don't remember anything about him at all. We will take you to anywhere you wish and set you up so your situation matches your memories."

"What were you going to give me if he hadn't insisted on my input?" she asked the monkey woman.

"Geisha training. I was supposed to set you up in Port Mure in Wind Country."

"How was that safe?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"We have people in Port Mure. They would have kept an eye on you."

Mae glanced at Mamoru. "And what if the memory block breaks?"

Monkey shrugged.

Mamoru took over. "You would probably be eliminated as quietly as possible. It would take too long to send someone to repair the block."

Mae considered this carefully. "Then I want you to set me up in Konoha."

Mamoru froze. "What."

"If I'm in Konoha, even if my block breaks, there will be a ninja able to repair it, right? Less dangerous for me. Anyway, give me that geisha training and some years of service. Give me a daughter who survived for four years before passing away. Have her buried as of yesterday. Send me to Konoha. Let me decide what I'll do when I get there. Maybe I'll start off waiting tables or something." _If I'm in Konoha, there's a chance that I'll see Yuji again someday._

"Done," said Monkey. She reached forward with a pale hand and placed it on Mae's forehead.

Mamoru's unsettled face was the last thing Mae saw as her vision darkened.

* * *

Jiraiya sighed, knelt, and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Kid, come on. Back upstairs. Mamoru is going to let go of your genjutsu in about an hour. You can't suddenly change appearance in the hotel lobby."

Naruto glared at him, the slightest traces of Minato's familiar scowl bleeding through despite the henge that gave him subtle traces of Mamoru and Hiromi-san's features. "Back off!"

Shaking his head, Jiraiya grabbed the kid's ear and hauled him to his feet. "Up you get. Come on. Not all hope is lost. I'll tell you how to find her, but first, you have to hear me out about everything and _why_ all this is happening."

Hissing, Naruto followed his ear into the stairwell. Jiraiya released the kid when he was one step ahead of him. "Go on," said Jiraiya, placing both hands on the railings, herding the boy up the stairs.

Naruto pounded up the steps rapidly, his head bowed, and shuffled to their suite door.

Seiichi was waiting in the foyer, the diary in his hands. "I'm sorry," he said when Naruto glared at him.

Jiraiya swatted the boy upside the head. "Don't go after Seiichi. He's ANBU; he can't disobey the Hokage."

"He's my brother!"

"He's also Sarutobi-sensei's hand. That's what ANBU agents are. Seiichi has been one since he was a toddler. Forgive him. Besides, what did you think you were going to do if you did find your dad helping your mom into hiding? You can't go with her. You're not strong enough to protect her, so your proximity would just endanger her." Jiraiya slipped off his sandals and headed for the couch. "Come, both of you. Sit."

Seiichi bowed his head and strode over smartly. Naruto hesitated for a while, a nasty expression on his face, but he eventually gave in and threw himself into the other armchair.

"Seiichi, Mamoru will be heading out as soon as he finishes laying clues for the authorities. As soon as we are done here, you have a choice. Because you can help Naruto hem in Kyuubi with Tsunade's pendant but haven't had a chance to try attuning yourself to it, you can accompany us to find her and get her to hand it over. At that point you would head back to Konoha. The other option is that you head back now and meet up with us when we capture the pendant, attuning yourself then."

Seiichi glanced at Naruto, but the boy refused to meet his eyes, more interested in staring down at his crossed arms. "I'm… I'm not sure yet."

Jiraiya nodded. "Think about it. Naruto, stop pouting."

"My name is Yuji."

Jiraiya snorted. "Your name won't be either in a few minutes, brat. Yuji is dead the moment we leave the lobby. We need to develop a new identity for you so you can travel with me safely. This would have happened at any point during your time in your village had any strange ninja started sniffing around. This is what it means to be in hiding, kid."

Naruto scowled.

"Pick a name."

"Katsuo."

"Good. Now, we need to create a new face for you. How good are you at maintaining a henge while you're sleeping?" asked Jiraiya.

Now the kid grimaced.

"He's pretty terrible," Seiichi said, glancing apologetically at his brother. "He loses hold of it the moment he starts to drift off. His genjutsu ability is solid after all the practice we made him do, but it will take him a couple weeks to create even the most basic feel of a different hairstyle over his buzz cut."

"Okay, then we're going to give you a crutch for the first few months." Jiraiya got up and retrieved some ink and paper from his room. "We haven't got much time. Boy, you have twenty minutes to build your new face and body. Seiichi, go pack for both of you. We have to be out the door in forty minutes. Think about your choice as you're working."

"Hai, Jiraiya-sama!" Seiichi snapped a salute and crisply headed into Naruto's room, probably figuring that there was more to collect there.

"Boy, you can't be blond or have curly hair and you can't have blue eyes and you can't keep this face. Other than that, go wild."

* * *

Katsuo fingered the tiny pouch strung around his neck as he followed the man who had been Atsushi-jijii through South Port's suburban streets, Seiichi-nii on his heels, looking strange as a lanky man with blond dreadlocks. He was still shaken and desperately wanted to sulk, but Jiraiya wasn't giving them any time. He hadn't been kidding. Katsuo had felt his hair sans curls like his mom's fifteen minutes ago for the first time.

Dad's genjutsu had dissolved. And Yuji had died.

Katsuo's eyes stung, but he just kept clutching the pouch. Inside was a piece of paper covered in carefully inked lines. It would maintain the most basic genjutsu feel of his appearance and henge—which had shaggy black hair, darker skin, and a couple snaggle teeth—while he was asleep. The henge was nowhere near as complete as the genjutsu he had worn had been, since it just enforced the visual basics with no real details, but Katsuo hadn't had time to develop anything more complex. Jiraiya had promised they would fix things when they got out of town.

When at last they stood at the crossroads of the trail that led east towards the narrows of Fire and then down into the southern arm and the track that connected the capital to South Port, Jiraiya stopped. "Seiichi, your choice?"

"Katsuo?" Seiichi-nii said, crouching down in front of him.

Katsuo pursed his lips and couldn't meet his eyes.

Seiichi sighed. "I guess I'm going back to Konoha, sir. I wish you luck with tracking down Tsunade-hime. Please send me word when you succeed."

"Enjoy your return to the village. Takashi asked me to tell you that if Hokage-sama forces him to become a jounin sensei, you're welcome to drop in on him. He said he'd help you find an apartment if you are allowed a life outside of headquarters."

Seiichi bowed his thanks. "Katsuo, I want you to carry this. You know how important it is to keep it safe." He pressed the journal into Katsuo's hands. "I know this is hard. I want you to know that I enjoyed being your brother and that you can count on me any time you find yourself in Konoha. You've taught me a lot of things I don't think I would have learned otherwise. I hope to see you soon."

Shaking his head, Katsuo gave up on being angry at what he was positive was a betrayal for the moment and wrapped his arms around Seiichi's waist. "Bye," he whispered, clutching his brother hard. "Tell Dad I'm pissed at him for not saying a proper goodbye to me. Tell him I'm not going to forgive him for taking Mom away."

Seiichi squeezed him in return. "I will."

Katsuo tried to let go, he really did, but in the end, Seiichi had to use Kawarimi no Jutsu and left him hugging a log. And that was the last Katsuo saw of Yuji's old life.

He pitched the log into the underbrush at the edge of the crossroads before shoving his hands in the pockets of his baggy jeans. Jiraiya set a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, kid. We've got a lot of road to travel, and I want to avoid all that walking. The toads have offered to lend me a hand."

* * *

Kato Eiko set the last of her kimonos in her chest before snapping the lid shut and pushing the latch in until the lock clicked. The carter was hauling the waterproofed canvas sacks full of her pillows and blankets out to the cart.

"Here," whispered Ayaka-chan, grabbing one side of the chest. "I'll help you load it."

Nodding and biting her lip, Eiko grabbed the other steel ring and together they managed to haul the pine chest into the back of the cart. She managed to not look into her daughter's room, empty now. The heavy weight of sorrow in her chest made her stagger, but she could just pass it off as fatigue. She hadn't slept since the ceremony, too busy packing.

"Do you have to go?"

Eiko nodded, unable to meet Ayaka-chan's eyes. "I can't stay here. Too many memories. Besides, what real geisha has a daughter, never mind survives her? No, I need something completely different."

"What will you do there?"

"Wait tables, bus tables, who knows. I'll figure it out. I've changed scene plenty of times now, not like you, Miss I've-never-lived-anywhere-else."

Ayaka threw up her hands. "Fine! Be like that! Run from your sorrow instead of being brave and facing it head on! Leave me here to grow old and tend her grave."

"You will, won't you?"

"Of course I will."

"I'll write."

Ayaka shook her head. "Don't bother. What use does a high class geisha have for the proper technique when wiping tables?"

Eiko shook her head with a wry smile. "A beautiful bitch. That's you."

"Don't forget your coat. Eat well on the road no matter how tired you get. Travel dirt doesn't contain all of the essential nutrients."

"Yes, Mom." Eiko accepted the coat and fastened two of the buttons before giving Ayaka a quick squeeze and hopping onto the cart's front bench beside the driver, who clucked to his mule. She forced a smile and waved to Ayaka as they trundled down the road until her fellow geisha waved back once and headed inside.

"To Konoha, ma'am?" asked the carter.

"Yes, we've gone over this so many times already."

"Yep, yep, ma'am. We go. Want to be sure."

* * *

Hiruzen looked over at Itachi, who waited passively at his shoulder despite the B-rank mission scroll he had handed over to his little brother's genin team. This mission should have gone to a chuunin team, but his chuunin teams were out at the borders, keeping an eye on every section except for the north eastern segment Kumo was still sending teams to gnaw at. Jounin and ANBU were handling that section.

That left genin handling what they could and a bit of what they couldn't when chuunin had yet to rotate back.

"Good luck." Hiruzen rubbed the bridge of his nose when the doors closed behind Team 14. "What brings you in, Itachi-kun?"

"An agent is waiting for you in your office. He claims to be Tiger–19."

That got Hiruzen to his feet. "Really? Excellent. Come with me, Itachi-kun."

The boy fell into position just behind him as they headed for his office. Itachi-kun preceded him through the door, eyeing the agent cautiously before stepping aside to let Hiruzen enter. It was a surprise to see a man kneeling where Hiruzen had been foolishly expecting a boy. "Welcome back, Tiger–19. It has been so long. I don't suppose you have been homesick?"

The man raised his head and shook it. "Rat–67 and his partner did very well. I was sad to have the mission end."

The Hokage smiled. "I'm glad those two managed to create that for you. And Yuji?"

"With his godfather, though very unhappy. He was very attached to Rat's partner. I have the feeling he will try to hunt down her whereabouts despite our best attempts to dissuade him."

"You left him the book?"

"He took it. Whether he will use it properly is in doubt. He is very angry…"

Hiruzen nodded as he settled on his well-worn cushion, Itachi kneeling a ways behind him, waiting to be dismissed. "Did he manage to develop a new cover?"

"Superficially; we were pressed for time just before I headed here. His godfather promised to help him complete it. They are heading to the rendezvous point. They promised to send word upon success."

"Then you have time off until then." Hiruzen held out a hand. Itachi-kun quickly set his crystal globe in it before resuming his position. The Hokage worked the jutsu and peered into the glassy depths. "Rat–67 has been delayed, apparently. It looks like there has been a change of plans because I expected him back in the village minutes before you. However, he is beyond the limits of my sight."

"I did not cross paths with him."

"There were probably complications in settling matters with his partner. I gave him some leniency in how to compensate her." Hiruzen passed the globe back to Itachi. "In any case, I'll debrief you thoroughly later. Your quarters in headquarters have been opened up for you. Go get some rest."

"Actually…" Tiger–19 looked a little sheepish. "I'm rather hungry and I would rather not find out what they're cooking in the mess hall. I have bad memories; forgive me, Hokage-sama."

The old man laughed. "Ah, it's interesting what stuck with you, Tiger. Itachi, six hundred ryou cash advance for Tiger here so he can eat on the town. Maybe you should act as his guide… Unless you'd rather not have company, Tiger?"

The man shook his head. "No, company would be welcome. I don't know my way around at all anymore."

"Excellent. Itachi can catch you up on village gossip. Enjoy your rest. I'll be by to debrief you tomorrow before noon. Itachi, when you have gotten 'Tenzou-san' safely back to ANBU HQ, please come back. I have a mission for you."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the two chorused.

"Dismissed."

* * *

Uchiha Itachi was a reserved young man, professional to a fault, but he somehow exuded warmth and care. Tenzou hadn't believed it of him, but the jounin's younger brother was waiting for them outside Admin, explaining everything without a word said. Uchiha Sasuke was the sweet and touchy type, especially when it came to his rival and hero, Itachi. The brothers took him to a Korean BBQ joint at his request and settled into a booth with him. He wanted something other than fish.

And that was when Tenzou learned that the Uchiha brothers were chatterboxes only when in each other's company with food to fight over. They traded good-natured insults, spat curses, and generally acted so much like Seiichi and Yuji had that Tenzou was hard-pressed to keep the ache in his chest from showing on his face.

They told him all about village gossip, such as the tension between Sarutobi-sama and his youngest son, Asuma, how an irresponsible and ever-late yet brilliant jounin, Hatake Kakashi, had apparently made headlines by taking on a genin team (which Sasuke-kun was puffed up with pride over being a member of), and how their clan were the pariahs of the village: revered for their genius but hated for their assumed treachery when it came to Kyuubi's attack. The boys didn't seem to know why their clan elders couldn't shake off the accusations with a sound alibi, but they were gleefully graphic in describing the sort of petty vandalism and bullying they brushed off as well as how their compound and clan members were specially monitored by ANBU. Other restaurant patrons studiously ignored their conversation during this topic.

Sasuke-kun then proceeded to gush over how Itachi-kun had been the Sandaime's assistant, just like other Hokage candidates had been, and how he was still in and out of Admin all the time.

Itachi-kun was quick to change topics before his little brother got into full swing bragging. "There are some interesting developments going on in the Hyuuga compound as well these days. Hyuuga Hinata was nearly totally blinded during a kidnapping attempt by a Kumo emissary that her father interrupted. The Kumo-nin threatened her harm in an attempt to keep Hiashi-sama at bay, but unfortunately, the attempt to free her resulted in her getting her face slashed."

Sasuke-kun slapped the table and glowered at his brother. "Don't talk about Hinata-san like that. She's my teammate."

"I'm just trying to get Tenzou-san up to speed. He has been gone for years. Hokage-sama ordered me to make sure he knew enough to understand village currents."

Grimacing, Sasuke bent to grilling another bit of meat.

"We heard rumours about that while I was away," Tenzou admitted. "They say she's blind. Better bargaining position, cover story to keep them from trying to kidnap her again, or inability of the med-nin?"

Itachi and Sasuke both studied him before Itachi continued in a voice so low Tenzou only understood by reading his lips. "She's competent enough but kept in the background. You'll have to ask your superiors for details, but _know that she is blind_."

It was more information than Jiraiya-sama had ever provided. Tenzou understood the last bit's emphasis.

Itachi returned to normal volume. "Her younger sister is apparently a stunning ninja even though she has yet to complete the now required three years in the Academy. Her father is moving to have her made heir in her sister's stead. There is protest since this would break the line of succession and because there is a group that has pointed out that Hyuuga Neji, the son of Hiashi-sama's younger twin brother, is more skilled than both of them put together with half the training, so if there is going to be a break in tradition, it would be best to pass over both girls and install Neji instead."

"Which is bullshit," Sasuke-kun muttered. "Hinata-san has worked very hard to keep up with us. It's awful that her father is dismissing her efforts."

Tenzou filed away how Itachi squeezed his brother's shoulder briefly. Tenzou was not at all surprised that clan matters were the subject of gossip here. In the fishing village, only his family had managed to keep truly private matters like who Yuji was and what their true purpose there was quiet. Anything else, like Mamoru and Hiromi's frequent fights, had been picked apart by the next afternoon. "Hmm. What about factions in the Council?"

Sasuke glanced at his brother hopefully, but Itachi shook his head. "We don't discuss those in public."

Interesting.

* * *

When Itachi-kun returned much later that evening, he seemed calm despite the curiosity he was certainly feeling. Itachi had been running very standard jounin missions for a while now. The assistant position had been short term, as promised, but Hiruzen had dragged him back from the border skirmishes with Kumo a week ago.

"Itachi-kun, I'm sure you have long known about the Kyuubi and your clan's supposed ability to control it."

The boy nodded, his face remarkably blank given how sore a topic this had been for the Uchiha for over twelve years. This was why the boy would go far. He thought before he dove into something stupid. That was what a good Hokage needed: the ability to pause, listen, and think before reacting.

"I have a job for you that requires something a little different. You'll be studying with Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi to prepare."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun sifting through the politics, the practicalities, the lies, and the truths and figure out what's really up with the Hyuuga Fiasco.


	6. Chapter 6

Jiraiya had a disgusting notion of how travel was supposed to work, but it was damn convenient, Katsuo conceded after wriggling out of another toad's throat and feeling how much cooler it was hundreds of kilometres north of their previous location. East Port was very far north of the little village on Fire's border with Tea Country and even farther than South Port.

The purpose of their stop in the little village had been to give Katsuo an opportunity to perfect his personality and mannerisms as Katsuo, as well as improve upon the reality of his cover, from the feel of his hair to the subtle variations in skin tone between the top of his fingers and the sides. A fair few of the people in the border village had the same ethnic background Katsuo did, and the remoteness of the village apparently made it a good place to study before leaving a false trail into Tea Country.

They were in East Port for some woman called Tsunade. To be specific, they were here for her necklace.

He wasn't convinced that this wasn't a silly quest. He couldn't see how some stupid blue crystal worn by some dead guy and passed along to his descendants was going to help them. Jiraiya had explained it again and again, but how a necklace was going to help contain this invisible fox supposedly stuck in him, Katsuo was not getting.

However, Jiraiya had promised to tell him where Mom was hiding if he cooperated.

For that info, Yuji, no… Naruto… ahem, Katsuo could play the sweet little boy wheedling a treat out of this old lady who had apparently been one of Jiraiya-jijii's teammates.

So Katsuo trailed after Jiraiya as he wandered through the derelict sections of East Port where the remaining gangs had set up a splendid underground with some of the most extensive gambling facilities in Fire. Cock fights, dog races, slot machines, card games, horse racing—if you could bet on it, it was likely that it could be found in this district. This was apparently just the sort of environment a sweet old granny lady thrived in, though Jiraiya-jijii had worryingly described her as "very strong, with a short temper… and maybe bitter?"

Katsuo was desperately hoping that his sweet old granny image won the battle for reality.

They worked their way through a couple dingy establishments, Jiraiya pulling out a photo of a young blond woman to coax remembrances.

"Is that from when she was twenty or something?" Katsuo asked after another person had shaken his head and shrugged helplessly. "Wouldn't she look really different now?"

"Nah. She's pretty vain. Being the best medic ninja in the Five Nations, she has more than enough skill to regress her appearance to her twenties. She hates looking old. If I was a psychologist, I might go on about how the way she clings to the age when she was the most damaged is telling and that sort of shit, but I'll leave that to Konoha's quacks, not that any of them have had a chance to actually talk to her in more than ten years."

Grimacing at that bit of information, Katsuo glanced around, looking for a new subject. "How old is East Port?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I thought concrete was hard to do now. Dad said something about mixer trucks or something."

"Hmm, yeah, yet another thing we'd lost to the ninja age. You ever heard of gas and the combustion engine?"

"Uh… Maybe in South Port? They had noisy boats there."

Jiraiya glanced back at him and quirked a corner of his lips up. "Yeah, that sounds right. A motor boat, sure—the rich like to show off in them— but you wouldn't have seen a car in South Port. Their streets weren't built to the old code, so any vehicles that by some miracle have survived aren't permitted within city limits."

Jiraiya seemed to know a lot of useless stuff. "Is this going anywhere?"

"Geez, brat, patience. I'm trying to give you some history. Oh, hang on." And the man was off again to flap his photo in someone's face. Amazingly, this person actually nodded thoughtfully after squinting at the photo.

"Yeah, I saw her. She got fleeced clean at a dice parlour up in the north end. The Grey Mats. It's one of the best ones: good reputation for playing fair and ensuring the dice aren't weighted or any of that shit. No luck at all, that one. The Fins and the Yazir both loaned her cash, apparently, so she skipped town a couple days ago, running out on her debts when their first goons went out to try to collect on her. Those guys haven't gotten out of the hospital yet."

"Any word on where she was headed?"

The bloke shrugged. "Far away from here, I guess. Somewhere the Yazir and the Fins don't have friends, though she wasn't too worried about them from what I heard. Sorry, can't help much more than that."

"Thanks for your time."

"No problem, old man. Good luck finding her."

Sighing, Jiraiya turned back to Katsuo.

"Well, that sucks. Where to next, old man?"

"Such an impudent brat. You're nothing like either of your dads."

Katsuo just stuck out his tongue.

* * *

This was so typical of Tsunade. Borrow money (often using ninja honour she didn't have as a lending point), gamble and inevitably lose it, repeat until thugs come to collect, smear said thugs into the pavement, and skip town.

Repeat ad nauseam.

Poor Shizune. That girl… No, she was a grown woman now. Either way, she had been dealing with her master's habits for well over a decade now. How Dan's niece had managed to become a functional adult with good morals was beyond Jiraiya given what she was exposed to, but the miracle was proof that there were gods out there, or that Dan and his sister and brother-in-law had managed to pound the lessons so deeply into Shizune's skull that not even Tsunade could pry them loose.

Jiraiya was grateful. He was hoping that Shizune would help them.

But all this was dependent on his coming up with a good direction to continue the search in.

Naruto curled up tighter under his covers and resumed his deep, even breathing. His hand was swathed in bandages from chakra burns. He had finally mastered the second step of Rasengan this evening, shredding the rubber ball. The bag of balls had been replaced with a couple bags of balloons. It had been hard to convince the kid to learn Rasengan. Naruto had gotten over his shock during their stay in that little village and was now well and truly pissed off with how the undercover mission had ended and did not want to understand why it had been necessary.

In short, he was acting like a boy that had just become a teenager: convinced he was right, the world had wronged him, and the world owed it to him to make things right again. Jiraiya had forgotten how annoying that phase was, though Minato hadn't really gone through it—that boy had been so self contained and sunny. If only his son had inherited that.

The boy had listened with enthusiasm to the story about Minato creating Rasengan though. He had started showing interest in his real parents as Jiraiya and Takashi had begun teaching him about ninja and politics when he had turned eight, but Jiraiya had always felt that at least some of the interest was an act to keep Jiraiya's disappointment at bay. Since leaving South Port, Jiraiya felt that more of the enthusiasm was real.

He decided that for tonight the kid could be spared a watch as he dug through his pack and unfolded his very large and detailed map of Fire. He quickly pinpointed their location in East Port and traced the various routes his quarry could have taken again. North took her to some small fishing villages and lighthouses (only one in ten of them were actually still functioning given how one in twelve of the marked villages were ghost towns). Jiraiya explored routes more inland until one struck towards Otafuku Gai. She would never take that route. It took her too close to Konoha. However, a little farther south, a route would take her to the capital, the Red City. Well, it wasn't actually the real capital, but it was the centre of everything in Fire. The Daimyo's palace was a little northwest on a peninsula jutting into Sacred Lake.

The Red City had some very good gambling. It also was a place Tsunade hadn't visited for five years, so her reputation in the city might have died down enough that she would be able to schmooze herself a line of credit or two or three. Yeah, definitely an option, especially since he had finally found someone who thought they had seen her heading out on the west road.

He traced out the other routes just to be sure. It would be the height of irony if she managed to skip herself so far southwest that she ended up in South Port. Talk about crossing paths.

* * *

Eiko had found that she really didn't like sitting on the bucking seat beside the carter as every bump, dip, and rock in the road made sure to announce their presence to her seat bones like those infatuated boy-men that had been hard to shake off sometimes. Besides, sitting all day was not going to maintain her figure.

Instead, she had ended up walking alongside the cart at a good clip to keep up with the pace the mule was kept to. Since drinking in the scenery of the roadside was only good for so long, she had filled her time by chattering at the carter, who had turned out to be a little clumsy in the common tongue. At first, she had recited all the poetry she had memorized during her training and career to please her customers and anyone else at whatever function she had been brought to brighten up. He had missed the meaning of many of them, but he had seemed content to listen quietly on the occasions that she would retrieve her biwa and strum it in order to add to the effect or/and take advantage of the sometimes sumptuous acoustics of the terrain they had passed through.

When eventually she had grown bored with this game, she had begun probing him for his backstory. He had been shy about it, perhaps an illegal immigrant, not that the Daimyo was all that effective at enforcing his border policies. Eventually, she had managed to fluster him enough that he had jabbered a couple embarrassed sentences in his native tongue. It was a choppy language with a different sentence structure if his rough literal translations were correct. Glad for a new game, she had made him name everything and anything in his native tongue and correct her pronunciation until she had it right. Over time, she had pestered him into giving her verbs and pronouns and other bits and pieces of speech.

Her first attempts at sentences made him laugh.

"You say… Hah! You say, 'The hill is erect.'"

"Did I?" she asked with an easy smile. "I am sorry. It would be… Hmm. 'Крутой'?"

He nodded, and she resumed mangling his language determinedly.

He had a very familiar laugh when startled into free amusement, but she couldn't say where she had heard it before. She would just have to make him laugh until the pleasant tingly feeling in her brain resolved itself into a memory.

* * *

This time Jiraiya-jijii made them travel on foot. The old man wanted to flash his photo at people on the road to confirm that they were going the right way.

Katsuo pulled on the jean jacket he had acquired in East Port and buttoned it up to the collar. It was early October, which was apparently quite a bit chillier here than in his old village. Maybe it had something to do with the altitude. They had to cross quite a few mountain ranges to get to the Red City from East Port.

"Come on, brat, we haven't got all day to get out on the road."

"Yeah, coming!" Katsuo slung his pack over his shoulders and slipped on his sandals. Once they cleared the limits of the little roadside village, he set to complaining as they picked up the pace to a jog that wouldn't look too fast for a civilian but would get them places faster than a crawl. Kami-sama, civilians moved slowly. "Geez, do we really need this Tsunade woman's necklace? Don't you trust the seal my blood dad made?"

"It's not about trusting, brat. We trusted in the seal on Mito-sama and your mother. There was just a weak moment."

"I'm not a girl, so there's no way I can have a baby. There's no way the seal on me is going to weaken."

"This isn't the same seal used on your mother. It's something your father came up with: a blend of what she taught him and what he extrapolated on his own. We have no idea how it's going to handle the fox long term. That's another reason why we had to get you out of the village and why Takashi-kun had two methods of contacting Sarutobi-sensei immediately. If something had happened to weaken your seal, with Tenzou and Takashi watching, it would have been noticed quickly and I could have been called in to use the key to strengthen it or a seal master could have been brought to you immediately."

Katsuo kicked a pebble off the hard-packed dirt road, and it bounced obligingly out of the rut left by carts and wagons before landing in the scrubby undergrowth that grew in the woods to either side of the road. "That sounds like a sucky deal for my village and South Port. Who's to say you would've gotten there fast enough to save the people there?"

"That's why Takashi-kun chose that small fishing village, probably: there's a mission office in South Port, so there's always some ninja. That twisty mountain pass between your village and South Port might have slowed the Kyuubi down, confined him to your valley for enough time."

"Why not just send me to you if you've got the key that could fix me if anything happened?"

Jiraiya-jijii grimaced. "Kid, I'm a spy for Konoha. I go all sorts of places that you can't take a baby or a young kid, especially when I was trying to hunt down the bastards behind what happened to your parents. Besides, what sort of life would that have been for you? No, it was better to have you grow up down in that little village. You had a chance to learn how to be kind, to make friends, and to taste a normal life. We wanted that for you."

"Thanks for ripping it all away." Katsuo glared at the roadside.

"Kid, I was supposed to take you when you were five. I left you there for just about eight more years."

"And you couldn't have just left me there forever?"

The old man stopped short. "Don't be selfish. Takashi has something of a life in Konoha. Tenzou does as well. And what about your mom? Didn't she have other dreams? Was the whole world supposed to be put on hold so you could play cabin boy down on the Kinuzu Sea?"

Katsuo clenched his fists. "You could have left me with Mom! She promised me that she would have taken me wherever she went. I would have helped her be a geisha or whatever she wanted."

"Your dad left the fox for you for a reason. We were hoping that Takashi would raise you to be responsible enough to follow through."

"Well sucks to be you. I'm not interested in being one of your ninja. I'll help you get this necklace from the Tsunade woman and then you're keeping your promise and telling me where my mom is hiding. Got that, old man?"

Jiraiya arched a bushy white eyebrow at him, a deadly serious look on his face. "We'll see, brat. Let's go. We've got a long way to go and if we're too slow, she'll have already left."

* * *

The Red City was as pretentious as Jiraiya remembered.

Skyscrapers. Of all the dumb things man had invented that had been rediscovered after the dark ages before the creation of the Five Nations, glass skyscrapers had to be chief. Now, the Red City was not placed as far south as it could have been, where the worst earthquakes seemed to pop up, but still, this was pretty dumb. Shortly before the posturing with Earth over who was top dog economically (which had morphed into the Third Shinobi War) had ended, they had been constructed as a showy representation of Fire's prosperity. If a whopper hit the city, any pedestrians would be sliced to ribbons.

Jiraiya gave the glass monstrosities a wide berth.

Naruto gave him funny looks but did the same.

Fire's big banks and investment firms were welcome to take up multiple floors in them as far as Jiraiya was concerned.

He pulled out his picture of Tsunade and, after re-familiarizing himself with the districts where most of the gambling parlours were, began stopping people again. The first four areas were duds, so he and Naruto decided to hit a kebab joint for lunch before starting in on the fifth district. The smell of roasting lamb from the shop had been unbearable.

Greasy kebabs wrapped in tin foil in hand, he and Naruto ambled back out onto the street only for Jiraiya to stop dead.

It wasn't fair that she was more beautiful than he remembered while her aura was the ugliest he had ever seen it. He rewrapped his kebab quickly and put it in Naruto's hands.

"Tsunade. Shizune."

Both women paused and turned to him.

"Ah! Jiraiya-sama!" Tsunade's apprentice quickly bowed, the pig in her arms protesting being squished by the motion.

Tsunade cocked her head at him with a sneer and nodded slightly. "Jiraiya."

He let her rudeness slide off his back. Considering the amount of pestering Sarutobi-sensei had been subjecting her to, it wasn't surprising. "It's been a long time since I've had time to track you down and catch up. Where are you headed?"

Shizune looked miserable at the angry tension between them until she spotted Naruto behind him. "Who's that?"

"Katsuo-kun. My current apprentice. Tsunade?"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "What could you possibly have to say that the geezer hasn't already written ten times over?"

"You'll have to tell me what he's said first. I'm here on the kid's behalf, not his."

"On Katsuo-kun's behalf?" Shizune peered at the boy, who snorted.

"Are we moving this inside any time soon? We're not nearly as entertaining as the street dances, but we're attracting as much attention," said Naruto, glancing scornfully at those watching the confrontation, some of whom glanced away guiltily.

"This kid sure has a mouth on him," said Tsunade, eyeing the boy. "Not at all like your last apprentice."

Jiraiya shrugged. "He's not a happy camper. He's right though. Where were you headed?"

That sneer again. "There's a good bar a couple streets over. They've got some rare stuff. Clean. Private. I was hoping it was private enough that I wouldn't run into any old acquaintances, so I guess you got lucky."

"Indeed we did. Lead on." Jiraiya made a gallant gesture that they continue in the direction the ladies had been walking before and fell into step beside Tsunade while Naruto held up the rear with Shizune, who kept studying him curiously.

* * *

The bar was private all right. Little booths everywhere with high partitions and sound-muffling curtains. Katsuo wasn't very worldly, but he could see that this bar would be an awesome location for holding secret meetings like the one they were currently in the midst of. The old man looked torn between being nauseatingly happy and depressed at being in the bitchy lady's presence, but he hid it after a while behind an I-mean-business mask that Katsuo had seen a lot of in the past couple weeks.

The lady was pale, blond, but nearly had brown eyes like a normal person. Katsuo was relieved at that mercy. The younger Shizune lady, who Jiraiya-jijii had told him would probably be around and was the Tsunade lady's apprentice and attendant, was also normal looking, with pale skin, black hair, and dark eyes. Katsuo, with his deep bronze skin and green-brown eyes, felt shifty as the oddest looking person there after Jiraiya.

The two old teammates were discussing whatever their "geezer sensei" had talked to Tsunade about before. Apparently, he had wanted her to return to the village and get her bad habits under control before the Daimyo got sick of turning a blind eye to her exploits and marked her as a missing ninja.

"He's got no right," Tsunade was snarling, a sake dish in her hand. "After all I sacrificed! After all my family did! If I want to gamble away my family's fortune, that should be my choice. It's not like the sharks I borrow from are legal."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Some of them are, if only partly. But I heard that you've succeeded."

"What?"

"I heard that you've currently bottomed out your family's funds. That's why the geezer's throwing a fit. The banks have come knocking on his door because they can't find you. What are you using as collateral these days anyway?"

Shizune looked uncomfortable.

Tsunade waved her hand carelessly as she took a sip from her dish. "This and that. Mother and grandmother left me plenty of useless jewelry. Father and grandfather liked spoiling them. Basically anything that was Senju's is now mine. There were a couple pieces of property in the west that I sold off about six years ago."

"And there's nothing left."

"I'm sure there's something," said Tsunade. "This is the mighty Senju we're talking about. I could sell off some jutsu or something, I'm sure."

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune looked aghast. "Some of those are forbidden. All of them are dear village secrets!"

"Pfft! They'll hold me until I qualify for my pension."

Katsuo figured that the old man looked disgusted, though it was mingled with pity and anger. Jiraiya shook his head. "Tsunade, you'll only qualify for your pension if you're still alive to claim it. The way you're going, I wouldn't place a bet on it."

"You had better not, Jiraiya. I'm the gambler at this table."

"With shit for luck."

"Not always," she said, but she looked haunted. "I won a jackpot right before…" She hastily took another sip.

Rolling his eyes at all this nonsense, Katsuo dug into his second kebab before pushing Jiraiya-jijii's towards him.

"Thanks, kid," he said, ruffling Katsuo's hair and digging back into his lunch. "Tsunade, I'm not here to force you to go home. That's someone else's problem. I'm here for the necklace."

Tsunade glared. "What's Grandfather's necklace to you? The geezer was asking for it too."

"For him." Jiraiya pointed his thumb at Katsuo.

"What." She didn't look amused.

"He's Kushina's successor."

The bitter hag inspected him more closely now. "Genjutsu and henge?"

The old man nodded.

"I thought Kyuubi was dead."

"Geezer witnessed Kushina and Minato sealing him into their baby before they died. No, they didn't kill the damn fox."

Tsunade kept her eyes on Katsuo. "Interesting. And what do you make of their generosity, boy?"

Katsuo sneered now. "Great birthday gift, but at least it's the reason I got to live with Mom, Dad, and Seiichi. I don't get why everyone's so freaked out about this fox; he's never bothered me other than supposedly being terrified of the ocean. Made going out on the schooners a little uncomfortable."

Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya.

"He was raised outside the village secretly. The geezer suspects traitors and didn't want the kid caught up in it."

"And he doesn't suspect me despite his complaining?" asked Tsunade archly.

"I'm trusting you. And Shizune."

The younger woman nodded solemnly.

Tsunade gave Jiraiya a half smile. "Well thank you for the show of confidence, old friend. But I still don't see why my grandfather's necklace needs to go around that boy's neck."

Jiraiya gave the same explanation he'd given Katsuo on the road, but this time he mentioned Seiichi… ahem, Tenzou. "He's very much like your grandfather."

"Damn Orochimaru," Tsunade hissed. "Fucking creep. How dare he desecrate my grandfather's remains."

"That's not the worst thing he's done. If you're not going to go back, stay well away, maybe in the south or go back east."

Tsunade shot Jiraiya a look while Shizune stared, eyes wide and fearful.

"What is our lovely former teammate up to this time?"

"He's been in contact with Suna. You know how they've been watching the conflict with Kumo like hawks. What with the cuts the Wind Lord has made to Suna's budget, they're pretty desperate. Maybe desperate enough to do something stupid like attack our back."

"To increase their rep?" asked Tsunade.

"Who knows. But what other way is there, these days? They were bandying that gladiator-style Chuunin Exam idea around during the initial peace talks with Kumo, but the Hyuuga Fiasco scrapped that quick. Orochimaru might have made Suna some pretty promises. He's set up bases somewhere north. I haven't managed to pinpoint them. But given the witness reports I've been gathering, he's been collecting followers from various slums. The weak, the desperate, his usual targets."

"Lovely. The geezer should have killed him when he had the chance. You should have—"

Jiraiya looked away. "Stop it."

Katsuo arched an eyebrow at this further drama. So this Orochimaru was a traitor and apparently had something to do with Seiichi-nii.

"Still hoping to reform him, I see."

Jiraiya shook his head. "I'm a fool, but I'm not that foolish. It's too late. After everything he's done, no."

Katsuo, having finished his second kebab, crumpled the tinfoil into a ball and began to roll it around the table. "Can we hurry this up? He promised to tell me where they hid my mom after I put on the necklace like a good little boy."

Tsunade glared at him for the first time before shooting a look at Jiraiya. "His mother?"

"They recruited a woman to nurse him. She stayed on until the end. They were very close."

"Interesting." She turned back to Katsuo. "Boy, I don't think you want to wear this thing." She held up the blue crystal that had been hanging in her considerable cleavage by the black string. "I've given this to two people. Both of them died shortly afterwards."

"Oh! That's why he said it was cursed! Well, that sucks." Katsuo turned to the old man. "Do I have to wear it? I want to see my mom, not die during my search for her." He scowled when Jiraiya refused to budge.

Tsunade looked slightly amused. "You're safe, brat. I'm not handing this over."

Katsuo narrowed his eyes. "The geezer here said he wouldn't tell me anything until I've got that thing banging against my collarbone. Hand it over or tell me how I'm going to convince you."

Tsunade just shook her head.

Katsuo frowned at her. "You mean to tell me I trekked all the way from East Port and sat here, quietly listening to how you've run your family into the ground, for nothing? Is that what you're telling me, granny?"

Shizune gasped and glared.

Tsunade smirked. "Sorry to waste your time."

Katsuo copied his mom's favourite move (generally done behind people's backs, but he wasn't feeling that gracious).

Jiraiya groaned.

* * *

Talks had broken down. Jiraiya couldn't believe how lippy the kid had gotten. He had been a sweet boy, eager to please, a fairly smooth talker, a sap. Since South Port, he had progressively begun exhibiting behaviour Jiraiya assumed Mae-san had displayed at her worst. Perhaps it wasn't a fair assumption, but Takashi-kun was cold and not prone to losing control by being crass. Tenzou-kun was too much like Takashi. Besides, Jiraiya had seen Mae-san lose her temper a couple times.

He had tried to salvage the situation, but Tsunade had just gotten bitchier and had shut down completely, paying the bill and heading back outside without responding to anything he had said. Shizune had maintained nervous silence until Tsunade had settled herself in a casino in front of a slot machine with a bucket of quarters. She had then consented to whisper the address of their hotel to him after casting Katsuo a worried glance.

With a deep groan after walking back out into the light of day, Jiraiya glanced at the sky, begging for the patience to deal with his bitch of a teammate. She was worse than he remembered. So much bitterer. Crabbier. Snarkier. He sighed.

So unlovely, but then she had never been a graceful personality. No, always brash and harsh. But she had been sweet with her family.

"What a bitch," Katsuo grumbled. "What now? How are you going to convince her?"

"Me?"

Katsuo scuffed his sandal on the sidewalk. "Yeah, well, I figure she's not going to be interested in talking to me. I don't know what she wants, but it sure as hell isn't something I can give her. She wasn't moved at all by my sob story. I've got nothing else. Besides, Dad always said it was best to rely on your expert, and that would be you, right, you two being teammates that go way back."

"Guess you're right, kid. But I don't know what I can do with her. She never respected me much."

"Wonder why."

Jiraiya decided to ignore that. He was too exhausted to blow up at the kid for that. "Come on, let's find a hotel near hers."

"Not hers?"

"Best not to meet her in the lobby."

"True that." Katsuo trotted obediently in his wake.

* * *

Katsuo waited one more day before deciding that his local expert was getting nowhere. Jiraiya had cornered Tsunade when she had left her post at the casino to get lunch and had failed to get her to say two words to him. Katsuo had then played unwilling witness to a repeat performance during dinner, where he had seen that money was not going to serve as a sufficient bribe. Apparently, she felt it was her sacred duty to keep the cursed necklace from killing anyone else. That was cool, Katsuo figured, but not exactly helpful. Intriguing that the necklace wasn't interested in offing her too. He wondered what the conditions of the curse were.

In any case, Katsuo decided that it was time to stop being stubborn and talk to Genie-san, even if he was the asshole Hokage that had torn his family apart. He pulled out Seiichi-nii's journal when Jiraiya was in the shower and settled onto his messy bed. Brush in hand, Katsuo wrote the proper opening phrase and then considered what he should write. He settled for the truth.

_Hey Genie-san, Hokage, or whatever I should call you now,_

_Me and Jiraiya-jijii are in a bit of a bind out here in the Red City (where the gambling woman is currently going through quarters like there's no tomorrow). See, she's not interested in handing over that necklace you want me to string around my neck so much (thanks for being so confident that the curse won't affect me). Negotiations have currently broken down completely. Her attendant has promised to try to keep her from skipping town, but she's pretty antsy to get away from me and the old man._

_Little help here?_

* * *

Hiruzen glanced over the message Naruto-kun had left in the journal for him and smiled. He was glad the boy had contacted him after so long despite how much resentment came through in the words. Wiping the entry with the correct phrase, Hiruzen quickly wrote the starting tag and his own message.

_Happy birthday!_

_I'm sending you help, Naruto-kun, never fear. Your brother will be coming along with a ninja named Uchiha Itachi. Itachi-kun has a mission he needs your help to complete, so please cooperate with him. He's trying to help you. He is a smart young man, so between you, Jiraiya, your brother, and him, I'm sure you will find a way to convince Tsunade to part with her necklace. Though I am sorry that Tsunade is proving so resistant, I am glad you are having the opportunity to visit places like the Red City._

_Please tell me where you are staying as soon as you get this so I can send the two to you._

_I am doing what I can to make it possible for your mother to come out of hiding. That is part of Itachi's mission with you as well._

_Good luck, and you would call me Sarutobi or Hokage. As you are not a registered ninja, which you use is up to you since I am not your Hokage. We can fix the lack of registration when you next come to Konoha. With official registration, we can better protect you in any legal messes you find yourself in with Jiraiya._

The message disappeared after the closing phrase was brushed onto the page. Sealing the journal away, Hiruzen called for his assistant. "Call in Tiger–19 and Uchiha Itachi for a preliminary briefing."


	7. Chapter 7

Itachi walked the last leg of the road to the Red City beside Tenzou, who had been directed to keep a low profile during this mission by wearing a henge/genjutsu combination. Itachi had been allowed to go as he was, the mission scrolls snug in his flak vest pockets. Well, a couple of them. His mission to retrieve Tsunade-sama was open. However, his mission to work with someone named Katsuo was top secret, though he was permitted to report some of his findings to his mother to aid in her search for the person behind Kyuubi's attack so long as he was circumspect about it. His mission to help Katsuo and Jiraiya-sama retrieve a necklace from Tsunade-sama was not top secret, but it wasn't official. It had made Itachi arch an eyebrow when Hokage-sama had given that mission to him, though it was primarily for Tenzou to deal with. Something about synchronizing.

Itachi knew how to read Hokage-sama's expressions well enough to know that he wasn't supposed to ask about that.

In any case, he was fairly certain that Tsunade-sama was being brought back to Konoha for a reason beyond being hired on as a consultant for the medical ninja program. The heir to Senju was a likely candidate for Hokage, as was Hatake Kakashi, since both were part of the chain of sensei and student that ran from the Shodaime to the Yondaime. Hatake Kakashi was not an immediate option, given how he was still quite young, but Tsunade was. It all depended on how impatient Sarutobi-sama was to return to retirement.

"So," said Tenzou-san out of the blue, his eyes fixed on the skyscrapers lancing out above the forest separating them from the Red City, "you're deep in Admin."

"Somewhat," Itachi admitted.

"Gossip says that you're considered a candidate for Hokage despite how unpopular your clan is. Well, not yet. You're too young right now."

"Yes."

Tenzou shot him a look. "It makes them nervous."

"ANBU?"

Tenzou nodded.

"It would. They've been watching my clan for a long time, waiting for us to prove ourselves traitors."

"Hmm."

Itachi could tell that Tenzou had resisted asking him if it was true. Not that he would have answered; he wouldn't betray his clan so openly, not when his father's plans were going nowhere currently. Shisui had promised to keep an eye on things while he was away. Mother was against it as well, if passively, so Itachi was fairly confident he would be able to return to the village and not find it in smoking ruins.

Once they hit the first road within city limits, Itachi took the lead, glancing at street signs and guiding them to the correct district. Tenzou followed without protest until they reached the hotel. Itachi hung back then, content to let the more personable ANBU agent handle the receptionist as he inspected the lobby.

"Oh yes, they booked you the room next door, and we were told they were expecting you today or tomorrow," the receptionist said after consulting a day planner. "Just let me phone ahead for you." She held a quick telephone conversation before turning back to Tenzou with a smile. "Feel free to head up to room 208. They are in." She handed over two keys to room 207. "Please enjoy your stay."

They both nodded their thanks to her as Tenzou pocketed his key, tossing the other to Itachi. They scaled the stairs and found a boy sticking his head out the door down the hallway. "I don't recognize either of them," the boy said to someone in the room.

"Ask them for the password." Itachi recognized Jiraiya-sama's voice and relaxed. The Toad Hermit had not been in Konoha often, but Itachi had played the mute and deaf assistant during a couple meetings between him and the Hokage.

"Password!" the boy called to them, scowling.

"Mae," said Tenzou. "It's good to see you, Katsuo. Happy birthday."

The boy's scowl broke into a grin. "Nice to see you too." He let them in with a flourish. Once the door was closed, he wrapped his arms around Tenzou, whispering "Seiichi-nii" into his side.

Tenzou ruffled his hair with a slight smile. "You're very silly, Katsuo. I'm Tenzou right now."

"Sure you are. Any word from Dad?"

Tenzou shook his head. "He has actually not arrived in Konoha yet. Hokage-sama doesn't seem worried about him, so he must have sent word about the reason for delay. He may be back when I return."

Itachi turned to Jiraiya-sama and bowed, Tenzou belatedly following his lead. "Thank you for receiving us."

"You're here to sweetly woo my bitter teammate. You need all the help you can get. She's not in a good mood." Jiraiya-sama lounged on his bed, reading through a thick sheaf of papers.

"That is not all. I am to return her to Konoha."

The old jounin whistled. "Good luck with that."

Itachi smiled wryly. "Yes, I figured it wouldn't be easy. With your permission, I would like to get my mission with Katsuo-kun going."

Jiraiya-sama arched an eyebrow. "And that would be?"

Itachi glanced at Tenzou, who ran through a couple handseals, soundproofing the room. Itachi then handed over his mission scroll for the Toad Hermit's approval. "Hokage-sama has had me training under Inoichi-san, Ibiki-san, and my mother. Shisui also worked with me. I am supposed to interrogate the Kyuubi."

"He really does trust you."

"I am grateful to receive such trust. I hope my efforts reward the Hokage for it. It eases things for my clan."

The old jounin gave him a long look before nodding. "Katsuo, you'd better cooperate with Itachi-kun."

"Got it." The boy turned to him. "What do you need me to do?"

"We should both sit down," said Itachi. "I don't know how long this will take. Also, it would be best if you did not antagonize the Kyuubi as you will be the one to live with him. We are going to utilize the powers of my eyes to enter your mind and speak with him in person. You will play host. If you welcome me in, I would appreciate it, but it is not necessary."

"Why would you want me to welcome you then?"

"It would make it easier for me to remain present without using too much chakra. It just means that you are not resisting my intrusion in your mind."

"You promise to not break anything in there?" asked Katsuo, arching an eyebrow.

"I am there to interrogate the Kyuubi only. I swear it."

The boy frowned at him. "That's not the same thing."

"I cannot make promises like that until I am certain about the extent of Kyuubi's influence on your mind. If he can exert some control on it and make it attack me, then my promise will leave me vulnerable. I have other missions to complete here, so I need to be able to defend myself. I will promise to mind your safety to the best of my ability."

Grumbling, Katsuo nodded and sat down on his bed. With his permission, Itachi sat down as well.

"Good luck," Tenzou said as Itachi activated his eyes and met Katsuo's, projecting himself within.

* * *

It was dark.

And wet.

Disgusting.

Naruto lifted one sandalled foot out of the foot-deep scummy water that covered the concrete floor in the vaulted-ceilinged basement that was apparently his mind and grimaced. He spun when he heard sloshing beside him.

Itachi walked over to his side. "You bear considerable resemblance to Yondaime-sama. Your henge is very complete."

Naruto glanced at his pale, pinkish skin, which looked just as unnatural as always, and hung his head. "Damn, I guess it doesn't carry inside?"

"No. Not unless you change the way you see yourself."

"Well, I'm Yuji." He watched with satisfaction as his skin darkened immediately to a tone closer to his mom's than his dad's.

Itachi arched a dark eyebrow. "A large change."

"Meh, this is the identity I've had the longest. I never really was that other person."

Itachi shrugged. "If you say so. Where would the Kyuubi be?"

It was Yuji's turn to shrug. "Heck if I know. I've never been here either."

"Do you feel anything though? Malice? Heat? Kyuubi tends to radiate those."

Yuji closed his eyes to focus before slowly extending a hand in each direction. Something said to the left. "That way." He sloshed off, the jounin following in his wake.

The hallway was just as dim as the chamber they had left, if with a slightly lower ceiling covered in leaking metal pipes. Images swam in the scummy water, ones that Yuji recognized. His village. His home. His family. Little moments he had forgotten about.

Suddenly protective of his old life, Yuji turned to Itachi. "Keep your eyes off the water."

The jounin nodded.

The hallway twisted and branched a couple times. Each time, Yuji would stop and listen and feel. Sometimes, it was a growl that led him down one branch over the other. Other times, it was warmth on his palm. Once, it was a chill from rage directed at him.

"We're nearly there, I think. See how there's more light ahead?"

Yuji saw alright. The passage gave way at last to a huge chamber. The ceiling was lost in the gloom despite the glow emanating from the gigantic fox curled up behind barred gates that were also lost in the shadows high above. A paper seal kept the gates shut. "Wow. That is the biggest frigging fox I've ever seen." He glanced back at the red-eyed jounin to find him frowning.

"He should be bigger."

"Huh?"

"When he attacked Konoha, he was bigger. I've heard countless stories. He was four times the height of Konoha's wall, at least according to numerous witnesses. He's only twice as tall here, if that."

Yuji arched an eyebrow. "Okay, you're freaking me out. How does he even fit in me?"

An almighty crash startled them both; the fox had beaten the gate bars with his tails and they were still a vibrating blur. **"Both of you, shut up. Hiding in the tunnel like vermin, bah!"**

Both humans peered at the fox, who was regarding them with a slitted red eye. "It talks," Yuji whispered.

"Of course he does," said Itachi, leading the way to stand before the barred gates. "This is a bijuu, one of the Nine. They are worshipped as gods by some cults."

Kyuubi snorted. **"Everyone used to worship us. As if we have time to listen to their petty prayers. We have better things to do."**

"Like what?" asked Yuji.

Kyuubi didn't deign to respond.

He rolled his eyes and snorted. "Yeah, obviously you've got loads of irons in the fire. Very busy fox, you are."

Itachi put a hand on his shoulder, and he remembered that he had been warned to be polite.

After grumbling under his breath, Yuji swallowed his dignity. "Sorry, I'm sure you'd be very busy if you weren't stuck in me."

 **"I would be, puny mortal. Unlike you, I have important work to do."** The fox turned his gaze to Itachi. **"You…"**

The jounin bowed stiffly. "Uchiha Itachi."

The fox's eyes narrowed. **"I thought so. Your chakra has the same flavour as his, if not the same feel. Fire. Water in you as well. Interesting. You are politer than he is, in any case. If I didn't hate your entire bloodline so much, I would almost consider not devouring you."**

"I am honoured, Kyuubi no Kitsune-sama."

Yuji arched an eyebrow at the honorific. Hadn't the fox attacked this guy's village?

**"Good. It seems that you haven't come to poke fun at me as Kushina did many times. You are more like Mito, bitch though she was. She showed me proper respect despite how she was the one who started the blasphemy."**

"Mito-sama was a gracious lady, I am told. She would not fail to show you proper honour despite how necessity forced her to enforce captivity upon you. It pained her, I am certain."

Kyuubi grinned. It was the most awful thing Yuji had ever seen. **"Yes, it did. I made certain. Now, enough with this human nonsense. What is your purpose? The brat there has never come before, and he comes with you."**

"You are correct," Itachi said, bowing again.

Yuji was beginning to wonder if Itachi was overdoing it on purpose, as some sort of passive-aggressive way of insulting the fox. Mom had played that game sometimes with a village elder that hadn't liked her.

"Kyuubi-sama, I hope you will deign to answer a few questions for me. We suspect that someone dared to attempt to control you on the night you were sealed into Katsuo… I mean, Yuji-kun here."

**"Naruto."**

Itachi and Yuji blinked. "Pardon?"

**"Kushina and the blond bastard named him Naruto. He is not Katsuo or Yuji however much he would like to pretend to be. His parents called him that even as I killed them."**

So the fox had been the one to actually kill his blood parents. Yuji narrowed his eyes. So the mysterious people the Sandaime, his dad and brother, and Jiraiya had claimed were coming for him and such a threat had not actually murdered them like they had said. He filed that fact away for later. The inconsistency raised his hackles. "My mom calls me Yuji, so that's my name, bastard," he snarled.

Kyuubi ignored him, focused on Itachi.

"That night. Who dared to control you?" asked the Uchiha.

 **"What will you do with the knowledge?"** asked the fox.

"Hunt him down."

**"You would take my prey from me? He is mine to kill, you realize."**

Itachi bowed again, and now Yuji was almost positive that it was sincere. "I apologize, but I would presume to kill him before he dares attempt to take your will again."

The beast got to his feet, forcing both humans to look up even more to meet his gaze. **"You would have to do the job twice. One death for this world, one for the world beyond death. Both deaths must be full of suffering before I forgive you for taking my prey from me."**

"It shall be done, Kyuubi-sama."

**"And my freedom?"**

Itachi bowed very deeply this time. "I am not able to promise anything. The seal is not mine to break."

**"Brat, would you promise me freedom?"**

Yuji narrowed his eyes at his occupant. "I never even believed you existed, not really. You were quiet. But they say you weren't out there. What would you do?"

 **"Fulfill my purpose, boy. It should not be something I should have to ask permission to do. You humans have dared to interfere…."** The beast subsided into furious snarling incoherency, his aura blazing up so hot that Yuji had to raise his hands to keep it from scorching his face.

Itachi handled the heat better. "Kyuubi-sama, I will do what I can to speak to those who do hold the seal. But I worry more that your enemy will come for you."

**"Silence, Uchiha!"**

Itachi took a step back.

The fox showed off his sharp teeth. **"I know what you are attempting. Do not play your games with me. I will push as I please."** The fox paced his narrow cell. **"I am only half of what I should be, more vulnerable than I was. I killed the Yondaime for that, for playing stupidly with cosmic forces he could not hope to truly understand. Sealing my yin nature—"** Kyuubi shook his head. **"I would have killed him besides. He dared to restrain me while Kushina was weak. He was interrupted though. A familiar chakra, though not exactly the same. It was mingled with another's. Both chakra clashed the last time I breathed free air."**

"Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama."

 **"Yes, those two."** The fox started growling again, his nine tails lashing randomly against the walls of his prison. **"Not the same though. Not Madara exactly. Not quite as powerful, though still very strong. He still satisfied the contract that Madara used to tie me to him. Masked. Orange, one eyehole. Swirl design. Sharingan behind that hole. He was able to take my will, so he must have had the strong eyes necessary. I would never bow unless forced by the strongest eyes."**

Itachi dropped to his knees in the disgusting water and pressed his forehead to the its surface. "Thank you for your assistance, Kyuubi-sama."

 **"I'm not done yet, boy. Get on your feet."** The Kyuubi sat on his haunches. **"Two deaths. I do not believe that this one and Uchiha Madara are one and the same. Both must die in this world and the next so I do not have to suffer that indignity again. And you shall ensure that none of your blood dares to try to use those eyes upon me again."**

"Eyes, Kyuubi-sama?"

**"Ignorance doesn't become you, boy, and feigned ignorance even less. The eternal eyes."**

One glance at Itachi's face told Yuji that the jounin wasn't entirely sure what Kyuubi was talking about but that he suspected something; if he was acting, he was awesome. "I shall do my best, Kyuubi-sama."

Yuji groaned and put a palm over his eyes. This was definitely passive-aggressive bullshit. There was no way this could not be.

Then, wonder of wonders, Kyuubi snorted and huffed a laugh.

Yuji glanced at the fox between his fingers, and despite the disdain and the teeth and the orange, he was pretty sure that the Kyuubi was calling passive-aggressive bullshit too. They shared a warded look for a brief moment.

 _Yup,_ they agreed without the need for nodding, _this Itachi guy definitely can't be sincere._

And suddenly Yuji was okay with the fox. He got the feeling Mom would have been okay with this no-bullshit vulpine too.

And Kyuubi kept playing it. **"And what is your best, Uchiha Itachi? What guarantee can you give me?"**

"The Uchiha clan is not quite as rigidly arranged as it used to be, but I am the heir of the man commonly considered to lead the Uchiha. I have access to the scriptures detailing the Sharingan and its further forms."

The Kyuubi smiled, but it was more a smile fitted to a hungry shark eyeing prey than any possible gentler interpretation. **"So you know about the key of guilt. But I wonder, do you understand it? Uchiha Madara didn't. The Sage worked so hard to create the path as a learning tool, to guide those of your bloodline to the correct path. Madara is all about hatred. You will have a hard time hunting him."** His gaze left the Uchiha ninja and instead focused on the middle distance. **"Yes, interesting. You are dismissed, Uchiha Itachi. I expect results. Soon."**

Itachi bowed again, nodded to Yuji, and faded out of sight.

"How much did you bullshit him?" Yuji asked with a fiendish grin.

The fox settled back on his haunches. **"It will depend upon how he interprets things. The Uchiha like to put the worst spin on everything, being the type to cherish their grudges. And you, Naruto, how much bullshit did you get out of that after all the shit you've swallowed over the years without question?"**

He grinned wider. "Meh, I don't pretend to understand any of that. All I know is that you and I obviously need to be introduced properly if you think my name is Naruto. I don't know if you killed my blood parents or if you were being controlled by the guy you and Itachi were talking about, but you need to know that I'm Yuji. I'm not sure why the heck they thought it was a good plan to shove you in me without consulting either of us, but I figure that we'd better make the best of it given that apparently I die if you get out. What's your name?"

The fox studied him for a long while. **"Your lack of attachment to your birth parents is a little odd. They would be devastated."** He seemed fiendishly pleased by the concept.

Yuji shrugged with a sigh. "I can't say. I didn't know them. You just said you killed them. My own parents turned out to be people on a mission for this old Hokage, and now I'm stuck with my godfather, who is the biggest pervert on the planet and is holding my mom's location over my head. I'm not so hot at judging people right now, so I figure not seriously offending anyone is the best plan, since I already went and did that with the hag. You and I getting along until we can figure out how to get you out or whatever without either of us dying seems reasonable to me."

The fox blinked, his nine tails stilling in the shadows of his jail cell. **"You are interesting. Kurama."**

"Kurama?"

**"My name."**

"Nice to meet you, Kurama. Let's try to make this ride cool while it lasts."

**"And how long will it last, Yuji?"**

"Just until we figure out why the hell they thought it would be best for you to be in me and how to get you out without killing either of us. Since you've apparently got irons to get in the fire and I can't be with my mom while you make me a target, I'd like for that to be as soon as possible and I figure you agree."

Kurama eyed him. **"If you pull the seal off the gate—"**

Yuji shook his head and frowned. "No, Kurama, dude, that's not gonna work. I'm not the brightest, sure, but I can pick up a beat and some new moves in an afternoon. The book genie—I mean, the Hokage briefed me on a couple things over the years. Pulling that seal off means you take over and I die. Not cool."

Kurama smirked, showing off his incisors. **"So you retained that much of your discussions. Interesting. I saw that memory down here, near where you're standing. This is your subconscious, so anything that makes its way here isn't something you consciously know anymore."**

"Memory and the knowledge don't necessarily go hand in hand. I know lots of things that I don't remember learning." Yuji wasn't entirely certain how he felt about having the fox able to view everything he'd forgotten in the pool around his feet. He reluctantly admitted that since he couldn't do anything about it at this point, there was no reason to throw a hissy fit. "Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you didn't equate taking over my body with getting free. I know that my blood mom carried you too, so you've been locked up for a hell of a long time, so I get that you're impatient, but this isn't my fault, okay? I was kind of helpless then. I'd like for us to agree that you manipulating me into dying isn't very nice, please. I'll do my best not to piss off anyone who can help us out."

**"You are going to actively work to separate us? To free me?"**

Yuji blinked at the fox's tone. "Um, yes? Isn't that what we both want?"

Kurama regarded him with narrowed eyes for a time in silence.

Yuji started fidgeting. Still, the fox stared.

And finally, he sort of smiled. **"You are a very unique human, Yuji. Perhaps a fool, but I can hardly complain, given the circumstances. Very well, so long as you continue to work towards our separation and report your progress in person every few days, I will play the good tenant."**

* * *

Eiko frowned at Konoha's imposing yet shabby gates. This was not the pinnacle of military discipline she had expected. Ninja had always struck her as monk-like, ascetic, and precise to the point of surgical.

This mess of weathered paint, peeling paper tags, and random junk did not match the picture at all.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

The general disarray of everything else, like the hair of the two ninja guarding the gate, just added to her distaste. Everyone was shabby. The buildings could all use a paint job and some serious maintenance. City planning had obviously been high on something when designing the power grid.

Even South Port, which was a mess of humanity vomited upon an extinct volcano, even in the slums, was more presentable than this. Matrons in the slums had more pride in their meagre homes than this lot of ninja had in their whole goddamn town.

From the brief unhappy look she had caught upon the carter's face as he watched her, he was distressed by her disappointment.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm hardly going to demand to go somewhere else now that I've finally made it here. Don't worry; you won't be stuck with me and my stuff on the road all over again."

"But you're not impressed."

"No, but perhaps I can charm the right people into fixing things to my liking. I was a geisha, after all. Charming is my nature. Let's find the nearest hotel and a newspaper. Somehow, given the state of things, I doubt their community bulletin board will be up to date or legible. My hopes for the newspaper's proper grammar use and spelling aren't high. Never fear, though; I'll settle quickly if you're in any sort of hurry."

"No hurry," Jakob assured her, but his tension told her otherwise.

She charmed a passerby into giving her the address of a reputable hotel and a place to buy the local paper. Further chatter yielded the location of a collection of telephone poles that were apparently a popular place to stick rent ads. A certain smile got a grinning local man to escort her there to the disgust of his female teammate, who stalked off in a huff while the last squad member tried to soothe her. Jakob had stowed his cart at the hotel and had stabled his mule with her blessing and had decided to follow her as well. He got a couple piercing glances from her local, but men often did that to each other while in her company, so Eiko wasn't alarmed.

"Here you are, ma'am!" The ninja gestured to the post covered in drooping advertisements.

"Any you recommend?" she asked as she scanned them, plucking numbers here and there.

He peered at the adverts for a few moments before pointing at two. "I know both of the landlords. They're good people. Can't say I've seen the places though."

"A landlord's temperament can be just as important as the look of the space," she reassured him as she plucked those numbers as well. "Do you know of any businesses looking for help that I might provide?"

He flushed. "Um…"

Jakob snorted. "Not that sort."

The young local blushed deeper and coughed. "Of course not! No, um, well, the Korean BBQ on Fifth gets busy enough that they've put a help wanted ad in their window. You could apply there? Other than that, I can't really say. It's not something we ninja keep up on."

Eiko arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

The ninja puffed out his chest slightly. "A ninja is always employed to the best advantage of his village. My team isn't often in the village because the Hokage sends us out so often."

"Ah, because your teammate is chuunin. Of course," said Jakob with a sanctimonious nod. "With her to lead, your team must do well."

For some reason, the young man flushed again. He was more agreeable than most about parting company when Eiko thanked him and made excuses so she could go investigate her housing options.

"What was that about?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at Jakob.

"I ask questions in the Red City about ninja while you have holiday. The woman wore a vest, you remember?"

She nodded. Of course she would remember something that tasteless.

"It is a mark of rank, yes? Only those who rank chuunin or higher wear them. He does not and reacts badly to my comment, so he is genin, lowest ranking."

"Oh, so something that ugly is part of the uniform. I see. Poor girl."

Jakob looked a little nonplussed for a moment before he started chuckling. "Are you sure you wish to stay here?"

She nodded firmly. "Something tells me that I need to be here. This is the place that fate has marked."

"If you say so, Kato-san."

* * *

Takashi sat in a booth with Sarutobi-sama, waiting for their order to come out. He felt strange without the constant drain of maintaining a henge and genjutsu hanging over him. Seeing his own face (though it didn't feel like his face) reflected in glass windows as he walked down Konoha's streets was still a shock despite how he had been off duty since yesterday, when Kato Eiko had finally watched Jakob depart from Konoha with illusory cargo in his cart. He had gone all the way to the next town before doubling back and finally reporting in to Sarutobi-sama. The chance that Eiko would sprint after a Jakob that no longer existed haunted him even now, when he had somehow given her his order without stumbling over his words in any way.

Sarutobi-sama was regarding him with amusement. "She frightens you. Tenzou-kun didn't mention that."

Takashi flinched at being so transparent. "I think she remembers, on some level. She kept trying to make me laugh. I accidentally did so once without guessing that it would trigger some flash for her."

"Usually, it's smell that erodes the block. Interesting that your laugh would work instead. Did you continue using the same soap the entire time?"

Takashi refrained from shooting his Hokage an indignant look. "My genjutsu skills include manipulation of scent."

The Hokage made a quelling motion with his hand. "I meant no disrespect to your talents. It was just a thought. Have you tested it against the Inuzuka?"

"Dog–94 assured me that occasionally I was able to fool her. Not often, but if I worked hard enough, I could. It required vast amounts of stamina and concentration. For most, switching soap and applying a mild genjutsu mask over it is enough," he admitted grudgingly. "Hiromi's sense of smell was nothing remarkable."

"Then I suppose sound would be logical. Do you feel she remembers enough to warrant intervention?" asked Sarutobi-sama.

Takashi shook his head. "Not yet. She seemed curious, but I didn't see any knowledge…." He noted her returning with a platter. "Thank you for honouring me with a meal, sir. It felt awkward to attempt to approach those I once knew when I realized I wasn't in the mood to make lunch for myself or take it alone."

"It is no trouble, Takashi-kun. Tenzou-kun got reintroduced to Konoha by Uchiha Itachi-kun and his brother. It's only fair that you receive similar assistance." The Hokage smiled benignly at Eiko-san as she deftly set his order in front of him before depositing Takashi's and withdrawing with a slight bow.

Takashi pulled his plate closer and plucked a piece of broccoli with his chopsticks. "Where is Tenzou-kun, by the way? I expected to see him here. I did promise to help him find his own apartment." There was a tug of sorrow from that. The boy had posed as his son for so long that it was odd to think of him "moving out".

The Hokage smiled. "That was good of you. He will need the help. Itachi-kun was helping him gather information about available spaces, but Itachi-kun has no experience in this area. He, as heir apparent, lives in the Uchiha compound. The two of them are out of the village right now. Tsunade has been located, so Tenzou and Itachi went to assist in the Red City."

So Tenzou had already been reunited with Yuji. Takashi forced down jealousy. It was a good thing he and Mae had arrived after Tenzou's departure. Yuji would have found a way to wring the information out of his older brother. They ate uninterrupted until Eiko-san appeared to refill their water glasses and replace their empty pot of tea. Takashi caught her eyeing him in that familiar way, the one where it was obvious she was holding back a question or a confession. It made his blood run cold.

"What do you want me to do now?" he asked the moment she disappeared again.

"I would like you to take a genin team. We have so few jounin to spare from the front lines, stretched thin keeping Kumo at bay while keeping an eye on every other vulture out there. The most important job I have for any ninja is training the next generation."

"How much would I be out of the village?"

Sandaime-sama looked far too knowing. "A fair bit. Genin teams with sensei are handling missions up to B-rank, depending on their experience. You'd only have to bear with D-rank missions for two weeks. If you are really worried, we could have you doing public relations work out of the area. Sentiment towards ninja is currently very negative, so any mission we can get out in civilian villages to improve our image is helpful."

"And what about black work? Do you need someone of my skill set on a long term mission?"

The Hokage sighed. "You know we always do, but the return on investing you elsewhere would take months to appear. I've gotten everyone I can in there already. You've been gone a long time. I've had to do my best without you."

Takashi knew the Hokage was just placating him now. "If you really want me to be a sensei, I will. I would prefer to set out on a five-year mission though."

Sarutobi-sama frowned. "No, I don't think I can let you. You've been away too long. You need time to relearn why you have given your life to Konoha, Takashi. I'll assign you to a new team the moment I have one that will suit you." He glanced at Eiko-san, who was taking a table's order across the room. "I will get you out of her sight though."

"As you wish." Takashi knew his play for nonchalance had fallen flat when he tensed as Eiko-san glanced his way for the ninth time. At least he had managed to get that frown off Hokage-sama's face.


	8. Chapter 8

With Itachi and Seiichi-nii here to take over handling Tsunade-bitch, Jiraiya resumed his bad habits. Mom had told Yuji ages ago that Atsushi-ojisan reminded her of a lot of her clients. Katsuo had thus been unsurprised by the old perv's behaviour in East Port and at towns along the road to the Red City, though he had usually gone out while Katsuo had been struggling with Rasengan training. Despite a run-in with Fuma Dana—a lawyer who took cases for civilians against ninja and part of a "hoity-toity anti-ninja clan" called the Matsuku—at a restaurant where they had been having dinner, Jiraiya went out, though he did wear a henge so he wouldn't be recognized by Dana-san's other clan members. Katsuo, tagging along, was unsurprised when the geezer pranced into a gentleman's club and settled down to be entertained without shame.

Katsuo couldn't work up the irritation he supposed he ought to feel. Instead, he was a little excited. The women here plied the same trade his mother had before. He wanted to see if they were like her.

They all thought he was precious as he quizzed them about what they did all day, what they did for fun when they had time off, and what they wanted to do if they ever got the chance. They were quite diverse. Some were giggly and happy, talking about the amazing parties they had attended and the amazing people they had met on the job. They talked about how they would decorate their dream house and marry a big shot of this or that wonderful bank or other financial institution. They gossiped about how they went shopping with their friends.

"We have it very good," one of the happier girls confided. "The Madam made sure years ago she had an in with the biggest and best companies. She made sure they would always come to us when they need girls for their business meetings. I get paid much better than one of my girlfriends, who studied hard and became a manager at a shipping company. She brags about her bonuses, but… heh." She patted his cheek, grinning. "She doesn't live half as interesting a life as I do."

There were other girls, less happy seeming but more determined to persuade him they were. Their eyes were shadowed. Some of them smoked. Others had a twitchy look. One sniffed white powder through a rolled up ryou note as he hung around with her and some of the other off duty girls in the back room, which his godfather had not been invited into like him.

"Hun, you're going to love the Red City," she told him gaily. "There's so much to do here, not like out in the fishing villages where I'm from. Parties every night, dancing, music, poetry, performances—every spectacle you could ever want to see comes through this city." Her eyes didn't seem right to him, but she was so intelligent. She told him all sorts of interesting things about all of the men in the room, especially the fat ones. He learned all about how one dude was buying something called stock from one company and selling it to people called investors while buying another weird thing called insurance against those same stock things. "They pay well if you're _really_ nice to them," she confided. "They tell me all sorts of things to impress me."

Katsuo wasn't as popular with the unhappy girls. They would glance his way and wince, as though he reminded them of painful things. Some of their eyes were so full of grief and raw rage that he was afraid to approach them. They were the smallest group. The happy ones said they didn't last long.

"They think too much," the blond friend of one of the pair entertaining Jiraiya whispered to him before sneering their way. "They're here for the money, but they leave guilty."

"Or dead," one of the smokers muttered. Katsuo was certain he hadn't been meant to hear that, but Kyuubi did a couple interesting things for him.

The moment the sad girls went out on shift, they pasted seductive grins over their emotions with the same efficiency they touched up their makeup. They were better liars than Katsuo had ever had to be to hide his ninja training from his village. He watched them flirt with suited men and sip alcoholic beverages in a way his mom had told him was "sexy". He saw the men touch places his dad had never touched his mom and had told him and Seiichi not to unless given explicit permission ("Only 'yes' means 'yes', Seiichi. Don't leave it up for interpretation. Women are almost never as stupid as they might pretend to be, not that you should be getting distracted like that while out doing infiltration work. Yuji, Atsushi-san is known for vice, so be sure you avoid doing anything he does that you know I wouldn't approve of."). Katsuo understood though: these men had paid for permission. That was why Jiraiya-jijii, who was almost three times the age of one of his escorts, was allowed to slip his hand under her skirt while she giggled.

Katsuo swore he felt something in him snarl with pure fury when he glanced at a knot of the unhappy women and heat flashed through his belly. He had a fair idea whose fault that was—he had been warned both by Genie (Sarutobi) and Jiraiya that the fox would begin to make its presence known as he grew older. He wished he knew how to go back to that basement to ask why the fox was so angry when he looked at those poor women. He would have to get someone to teach him how.

Jiraiya drank and whispered with escorts as the hours passed. The women he had started with wandered off to summon replacements after receiving a smack on the ass and a wad of ryou notes discretely passed along. Katsuo only noticed the cash because he saw one of the first girls that had worked Jiraiya counting the bills at a side table in the employees-only room. Most of the other girls stashed the cash in their bras or hidden pockets. Not one of them put the money in their lockers. It struck Katsuo as kind of odd. The lockers did have combo locks. Wouldn't money be safe in them?

"Your guardian is a ninja, huh."

Katsuo whipped around to stare at one of the sad women, who had plopped herself down next to him and was watching Jiraiya. "Huh?"

"I've seen his type before. Oh, he's here for the girls, but he's got questions for all of us. You'll see. He'll work his way through half the on-duty staff before he leaves. We know to save our whispers for him. His type pay well." She took a drag from her cigarette and exhaled the smoke out her nose, ignoring Katsuo's attempt to smother his grimace at the smell. "You a ninja too? One in training?"

"Not really. I'm just looking for my mom."

"That so? Too bad. You're smoother than your master is, charming your way in here where you don't have to hide your questions from the other patrons. You're sweet enough that you could get a lot of girls to tell you things for free. Working girls know all kinds of things that men like your guardian forget to ask us questions about. It's the other side of our trade."

"So… if I asked the right questions, I could even find my mom?"

A ghost of a smile quirked the corner of her lips. "If you're clever and you know what you're looking for. Life is all about asking the right people the right questions at the right time, m'boy. It's the wrong ones to the wrong person at the wrong time that death is all about."

_Be careful. Listen carefully,_ something deep inside him whispered. Katsuo nibbled on his lip. Had that been Kyuubi or the suspicion his dad had trained into him? Either way, he had questions. "Did you hear about a woman with very curly hair in the city recently?"

"There are many women in the Red City with curly hair, boy. We get plenty of immigrants. Pick your questions more carefully, but not too carefully. Remember, you aren't the only person who asks us questions. Sometimes, the questions we get asked are who is asking about what."

Suspicion nibbled harder on him. Dad's many lessons about how he had to be very careful about trusting people not vetted by his senpai ninja began to rise up in him. He had thought he had forgotten all but the meaning, but the memories seeped into his mind, clear as they had been four years ago. _"You are a target, Yuji. I am sorry this is so, but it is not something we can change. You are a target. The only way for you to continue being a live target is to acknowledge your status and react and take precautions accordingly."_

_She's a ninja._ Katsuo was almost positive. Was he her target? Or was she simply going to use him to go after the perv? Should he keep trying to play along or try to get away?

"Huh. That's a strange expression, boy." She blew out the smoke from her last drag. "You suddenly scared of me?"

"My mom taught me whores were the coolest, so nah, I'm not scared of you. I just wonder who your client is."

"I've got tons of clients, boy. I'm a whore, not a mistress."

"The one you're supposed to ask questions for."

She smiled as she pressed her cigarette butt into the ashtray. "That would be telling."

He grinned at her. "I can still ask questions?"

"Of course."

"I just have to be careful."

"That's right."

"Do lots of whores want to be geisha?"

A line appeared between her eyebrows. "A fair number. Geisha aren't whores of any sort, sometimes. They're artists. If they're lucky, their poise and cultured talents are for sale, not what lies between their legs. Even the highest courtesan is expected to spread her legs to her wealthy clients eventually."

"What directions are unusual to travel out of the Red City?"

The wrinkle deepened. "North and northeast are generally avoided. North-northwest is the way to the Daimyo's palace, so only a few are permitted to go that way. North is to the small villages between us and the smaller nations. If you go northwest from there, you head towards Grass and Earth Country, which is where the Third World War was fought. If you go north and east, you approach Hot Spring and Lightning, which we are currently at war with."

"So people go south or east or west?"

"Well, not a lot of people go east: East Port's a tough city since there's no ports welcoming trade from us in Water, Hot Spring, or Lightning, so that rules out the entire northeastern coastline. It's easier to go to South Port if you want to trade or travel on the seas."

"Have you heard of a woman with curly hair leaving the city in any of those directions?"

"No. There was a woman headed north with a carter—she stopped to chat with a teashop owner on her way out of town about her crazy reasons for retiring from the geisha path—but her hair was straight, long, and pinned up, like you'd expect from a geisha. Some women went east with a few men, some of them streetwalkers from the slums here, but they were hoping to make it big in the outskirts of East Port, preying on the soldiers manning lighthouse watchtowers along the shoreline. They keep the towers well-manned because the Hokage apparently expects an attack from the sea since he has the northern border protected by his ninja."

Just how much she knew was suspicious, but he still wasn't sure what to do about it. Was her blond hair real? Were her steel blue eyes from a henge? Was she hiding compact muscle beneath that mauve thigh-length kimono?

"Is the Daimyo a good person?"

She shrugged. "He's a noble. Who knows? Does it matter?"

"I'm just curious."

"Well, I've heard he's a fool and easily led. He's more of a figurehead during times of war, so the Hokage is the one really in charge of protecting Fire. The Fire Lord never keeps a mistress long term, but he does call upon them sometimes. His wife… well… she's not what I would have hoped for as the Fire Lady, but it was a noble match."

Katsuo's attention was caught by Jiraiya getting to his feet, drink painting his cheeks red and adding a wobble to his step, but he subtly beckoned to Katsuo all the same as he headed for the cashier to pay off his tab. "I've gotta go," the boy said, sliding off his chair. "Thanks for your help."

"Anytime, boy."

Katsuo arrived at Jiraiya's side just as the cashier handed him his receipt. Several women waved farewell to him as he followed his godfather out the door.

"Enjoy yourself, brat?" the ninja asked.

"She was a kunoichi, wasn't she."

Jiraiya nodded. "Shuriken strapped to her torso beneath her kimono and senbon and stilettos up her sleeves for easy access. Did you notice how her sleeves didn't quite drape properly on the rare times she let them drag on the table? I'm not sure if she's one of ours. Given how she talked to you, she might be. But if she wasn't, she's probably someone from Kumo."

"You're just going to leave her?"

"I'll check her, but there's no point in rooting her out. If I do, then I have to hunt down her replacement. If I don't, I can have her watched in order to find out who she's reporting to, hopefully."

"And if she's got a better way of passing info along?"

"Then we'll try to locate it and crack the access code or cipher without alerting her to the tampering. We don't want them changing their code."

The old ninja was actually pretty smart even when drunk. Katsuo was kind of shocked. "Am I supposed to report our conversation?"

"When we get back to our hotel room. I want to make sure to shake anybody off our trail first."

This lengthy process involved visiting two other brothels and one bar. Jiraiya enjoyed himself thoroughly at each one. Katsuo was not amused.

When he finally did get to go to bed, something drew him deep into the ankle-deep water and dripping pipes. He found his way through the labyrinth of dark corridors more quickly this time and was soon standing in front of Kurama.

**"That ninja woman, she's like us. I smelled Nibi on her."**

"Nibi?" Katsuo frowned. The Sandaime Hokage had briefed him on the other bijuu and their known carriers and had told him that one of his "duties" was keeping them from attacking Konoha. He wasn't too keen on the idea. He had only just begun his lessons about Kyuubi's chakra now that Jiraiya was around to lock his seal if necessary. "Okay, so why drag me here then?"

**"Nibi knows the Shinigami very well. He might have information on how to separate us without risking death. He and I can talk if you loosen the shackles a bit."**

"The shackles? What shackles? I only see a cage door."

**"I'll show you what your father did to me."**

The basement faded into nothing and suddenly Katsuo was somewhere above a cluster of islands in a yellow sea. Each of Kurama's tails was spiked and chained to an island along with his hands and feet. A massive spike pierced his belly and it was surrounded by a dark orange glow near Kyuubi that faded to the same yellow as the sea before dispersing into the sea, feeding it. "You feed my chakra, like the Hokage said. How is that not painful though, being spiked like that?"

**"It is. Your will and chakra keep these spikes in place. The seal is what has kept you doing this since the sealing."** Kurama opened his slitted eyes and the scene faded back to the basement. **"You can loosen this by diverting some of the chakra away from keeping the shackles taut. That will reduce the barrier between me and the world outside your body and soul."**

"If there's a barrier, how could you tell that the Kumo-nin has Nibi?"

**"Much of what you experience comes to me immediately."** Kurama gestured to the scummy water. **"There are always signs. In her case, she has Matatabi's smell. Her seal is not like yours: Matatabi can come out."**

"Then we're going to have to be careful when we go see her, huh?"

* * *

Itachi pulled the lever of the slot machine idly after popping another coin in. He ignored the flashing lights and the spinning dials. Instead, he studied the tiny mirror he had propped up and disguised to study Tsunade-sama.

There was something about the old woman's attitude that confused him. He had been briefed on all the information the village had and Jiraiya-sama had filled in some gaps, so Itachi was well aware of the two deaths that had fuelled her fall from grace and dignity and how her gambling habit had been initiated by her grandfather, the Shodaime. It all made sense, except…

Well, it all made sense except that Tsunade had so much pride. Her fierce pride should never have let her fall this low without twisting into something self destructive. But even her obsessive gambling didn't seem to be fuelled by self loathing and made into a way to punish herself. She genuinely hoped every time she pulled that lever, every time she rolled the dice, and every time she picked up her cards.

She hoped.

There had to be something he could do with that.

People clapped around him, and someone patted him on the shoulder and said, "Congrats, old man!"

Itachi turned back to his machine to find it vomiting coins all over his knees.

He suppressed a sigh. What a mess. Still, he summoned a smile to his disguised face as he turned to his well-wishers.

In the mirror, he caught Tsunade-sama watching him, a tinge of envy in her eyes.

She was so frank, so straightforward. Katsuo-kun had tried that tactic on her in return and had failed. Perhaps he hadn't struck the right note though.

It all came back to the necklace. She had given it to two people who had reportedly aspired to become Hokage to aid them in their dreams.

Katsuo only wanted the necklace as a contingency plan for dealing with the Kyuubi if Itachi had guessed correctly. Or, rather, people around him wanted the necklace on him for that reason. Katsuo cared nothing for what the necklace meant or the Hokage position.

No wonder he had gotten nowhere.

Itachi finished gathering his coins in a sac and snagged his mirror.

Tsunade stiffened as he approached. "You think I can't tell you're wearing a henge?" she snapped without turning to face him.

"I have to if I don't want to be thrown out for being underage," said Itachi, settling at the machine next to hers. People had steered clear of her after the rumours of just how many times she had lost had started circulating. They didn't want her bad luck to rub off on them.

Tsunade peered at him out of the corner of her eye. "The feel of your chakra is familiar. You another one from Konoha? If you've got a scroll from the geezer, I'll shove it down your throat."

"No scroll for you. He has already explained his desires. I am here for a slightly different reason."

She turned to face him, smirking. "Here to plead instead? I don't care how young you are or how lucky; I've got no soft spot for kids."

"At eighteen, I doubt I would inspire much sympathy. My name is Uchiha Itachi, and I am going to be Hokage."

Tsunade laughed. "Ita-kun, do you have any idea how many times I have heard those words?"

"Oh, I know, Tsunade-sama. Twice, they moved you. Twice, they failed you. I don't have the option of failure. I have to save Konoha from itself."

She glanced away from the spinning dials and narrowed her eyes at him. "Itself?"

"I was informed that you haven't been in the village in over a decade. You left shortly after Dan-san's death with his orphaned niece in tow. Before you left, Konoha was at war, so there was an external enemy to draw attention away from the internal strife, to create unity."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there are forces at work within Konoha that would tear it apart far more quickly than the threat from Kumo, which is being held at bay at the border with Hot Spring Country. The skirmishes have persisted too long; they are no longer a pressing threat, but old news. Tension builds. I can stop it. I must."

"And how can you stop it?"

"By being a symbol, by being greater than I am."

"You're an Uchiha, boy. You'll never be permitted—"

"And that is exactly why there is tension. Sarutobi-sama singled me out and made me his assistant. I spent the time learning the politics and identifying the factions, as he intended. If he passes over me and instead promotes me to ANBU, all is lost. The symbol I could be will be tainted with the association of the Hokage's power. The spreading whispers of what change I could represent will be silenced by the hypocrisy."

She was listening, really listening. He doubted she truly understood; abstractions like the power of symbols tended to fly over the heads of the frank. But he got the feeling she grasped the basics of what he was trying to tell her.

"You hold the necklace of the Shodaime, the symbol of his approval. The legend of its curse is known in Konoha. If you pass it to me and I wear it and live, it would inspire more hope than you could ever know. It would be as if the Shodaime himself was blessing an Uchiha, a filthy, traitorous Uchiha, and deeming him worthy of leading his village."

She sneered. "So you want to capitalize on the necklace's image."

"I would pit my will and my luck and my belief that I have to put myself at risk to protect Konoha against the necklace's curse. I feel the chance of overcoming the hurdles that stand in my way by battling the curse is worth that risk." He dropped his sac of coins on her lap. "Besides, what do you have to lose? If I am not a match for it, the necklace will lead me to death and it will return to you. It would be no fault of yours. If you like, I will force it from your fingers. But I would rather you had faith because I think that, just once, you deserve to have your hope rewarded the same as every other faction in Konoha hoping for one of their own to ascend.

"I bet my life. Are you willing to bet your necklace?"

She hefted his bag of ryou, the coins chinking as she shook it. "You're a smooth brat, I'll give you that. But this bullshit about risking your life? I don't buy it. I won't take a bet with life on the line."

Itachi allowed a half smile to twist his lips, an especially condescending one. "If I do die, I'm sure the necklace wouldn't be so cruel as to have me bleed out all over you, Tsunade-sama." He noted her eyes widening and going slightly glassy. _Now._ "More likely I would be impaled or garrotted by a well-meaning Uchiha hater who is convinced my clan attacked the village with the Kyuubi that night so many years ago."

She regained control of her breathing and her shaking, smothering the reactions before speaking. "And did they?"

Itachi shook his head. "I do not believe so. But I was young and watching over my little brother, only a few months old, because my parents had gone away with all the other Uchiha. My brother was far too young to be left in my hands, but my mother was afraid he would interrupt the meeting."

"A meeting."

"Yes, a meeting. I don't know what it was about, though I have since figured out where it was held. I believe the Uchiha astonishment was genuine when they emerged from the meeting hall later that night before racing to join the tail end of the fight. I believe the scorn and resentment my little brother endured at the Academy was for nothing. He still feels it today. I need to erase it."

She regarded him in silence for a couple minutes, sizing him up. "You've already stolen it, haven't you?"

"I have," he confirmed. "Genjutsu is more effective when it mimics reality than when it alerts the victim to its presence by immersing her in the impossible."

"It was when you started talking about blood."

He nodded. "I was informed of your phobia and the effects it produces. When your stomach started rebelling, your mind froze, and you started shaking, it was simple to bypass your conditioned response to genjutsu and mask my theft."

"I don't like you, boy. You're subtle, like a lot of bastards I've known over the years, Orochimaru included. He was offensive, but he was smooth. However, he didn't care about the living like you do." She scowled. "You have two seconds to run."

Itachi disappeared in a shower of coins.

* * *

Seated on his bed as the morning light streamed through the gaps in the blinds of the hotel window, Katsuo tried to remember the lists of who the jinchuuriki were, what village they belonged to, and where they were he had been given over the years. There had been a couple gaps in the list from one to eight, and a couple changes had occurred in the lineup over the past four years, but he was pretty sure that the last he had heard, Nibi was supposed to be in a blond kunoichi called Nii something. Nii Nibi, that was how he had remembered it on top of all of the political figures and factions for various nations he had been forced to memorize and keep up to date on.

Dad and Genie (the Sandaime) had been big on making sure that if he ever needed to run, he would know what kind of trouble he was running towards as well as away from.

Admittedly, he hadn't retained even one third of everything he had been force-fed—Dad had always sighed after many of his questions during training on the previous day's lecture yielded "Umm" answers from Yuji. He did remember that Nii with the Nibi was supposed to be pretty good. A chuunin at fourteen if he remembered right, so she had a huge amount of experience on him, but would she have the answers he and Kurama were seeking?

Katsuo left Jiraiya snoozing off his overindulgence from the night before on the other bed and a note with "Nibi, kunoichi from last night" scrawled on it on his pillow. He wanted backup, and the surest way to get it was to leave the old perv with no real reason for his disappearance and a clear trail. Katsuo was allowed to wander off on his own just as much as Yuji had been, so far. He was sure Jiraiya would hunt him down the moment he realized he was gone. Katsuo just had to finish his meeting before the old perv caught up.

As he headed from the hotel towards the brothel from the night before, he began pulling chakra away from the seal on his belly.

**_It's going to rain,_** murmured that newly familiar voice. Odd to have it in his head suddenly. He guessed it was a bit like communicating with those Yamanaka people his dad had told him about when they had been going over the clans of Konoha.

_Is it? It's hard to tell inland._ Katsuo spared the horizon, what little of it he could see past the tall buildings, a glance and considered the direction and feel of the wind. It was overcast, but the clouds were high and nowhere near heavy enough to be ready to shed water.

**_The signs are a little different, but I can smell it coming._ **

Katsuo took a deep breath and shrugged. It was too subtle. He had yet to become used to the feel of the humidity here.

The gentleman's club hardly looked as impressive and elegant in the light of day. Night had hidden the scuzzy feel of the buildings further down the block. He knocked on the door when it proved to be locked. From his mom's descriptions of the life of whores attached to a brothel, some clients would be leaving at this hour, so someone should be on hand to open the door. He kept banging on the glass until an older woman dressed in a jumpsuit with a cigarette clenched between her teeth ripped the door open with a scowl. "You want something, brat?"

Katsuo patted his pocket. "I was sent with a message for one of the girls here. He said he wants a reply."

The janitor lady rolled her eyes. "Business hours don't start until five."

"He just told me to get a reply. I'm not going back until I get one. He promised me a hundred ryou."

"Cheap, boy."

"That's eight chocolate bars! If I get a good reply, he might give me more!"

After some more bickering, Katsuo got past the janitor. He could have snuck in, but he was trying to leave a trail for Jiraiya. The more witnesses, the better. The scuffle at the door had attracted the attention of quite a few other people on the street. They would remember.

"Which one are you looking for?"

Katsuo frowned. "He didn't give me her name. Just said she's blond and has grey-blue eyes. He said lots of other useless things too, but people change clothes."

"That's Yuri unless one of the other girls was trying out contacts." The janitor puffed on her cigarette, the cherry glowing in the dimly lit lobby. "Upstairs. In room twenty-three. Don't know if she's got some john with her, so it's your party. Get the fuck out of my sight and close the door behind you. If I find it's not tight, I know your face. I'll find you."

Katsuo sneered at her and raced up the stairs as she collected a discarded broom and stalked off. He located the right room easily enough. Using the sense of chakra that keeping some flowing through his system granted, Katsuo barely picked out two presences in the room as he lingered against the wall to not create any telltale shadows beneath the door. _Any input?_

**_Demanding._ **

_Do you want this to go smoothly or not? I'm not a sensor type: I can't tell much beyond twenty feet unless chakra's being used. If you can talk to Nibi because I've backed off, maybe you can get her out here? Following through with the ruse any further isn't going to get the kind of time we need for this conversation._

Silence for a time. Katsuo forced himself to be patient. Chakra flowing to his ears finally paid off: he heard someone roll off the bed and onto all fours. The weight made him sure it was someone slight.

Voices. A teasing female chuckle. A masculine growl. Katsuo rolled his eyes. This was taking so long! _Well?_

**_Nibi wants us to talk face to face._ **

_I don't like it; the goal was to have a conversation, but I guess I'm going to have to discard this identity. Worse, she linked me with Jiraiya. My cover with him is blown even if he was wearing a henge. Damn it, Dad is gonna kill me for screwing this up so badly. Not that there was any way I was going to be able to pump her for info on bijuu sealing without getting her suspicious. And not that Dad wasn't going to kill me anyway for looking for information on trying to free you. This is not a good idea._

**_Nibi is nothing compared to me. He only has two tails._ **

_And his vessel is a full ninja. I'm not even a genin. My training focused on maintaining a cover, escape, evasion, and defence. I can do offence, but I'm not going to be anywhere near as good as her. Jiraiya's supposed to be teaching me that attacking stuff. I was trained to_ flee _. I've been told enough times that fighting the guy that started all this isn't the way to go._

**_I'll be with you. Unlike you, I am good at attacking._ **

_Not in the middle of the city, you won't._

**_We agreed to hold the meeting outside the city._ **

_No._

**_It's already decided, cowardly one._ **

_And I say no way. The more witnesses, the less likely it is that she'll off us._ Katsuo pressed himself tighter to the wall when the heavy panting and wet noises from inside the room were punctuated by two pairs of footsteps moving apart. Clothes rustling. Zipper. The smack of a leather wallet being flipped shut. The scrape of paper bills. The low murmur of the kunoichi's voice. The doorknob turned.

Katsuo erected a simple genjutsu projection of the wall behind him in front of him as the client strolled down the hallway, satisfied as a cat. He disappeared down the stairs with a bounce in his step.

Katsuo took a deep breath and dropped the wall genjutsu. His heart was pounding hard. He had never acted on his own like this before. It was terrifying and freeing at the same time. Mostly terrifying.

To find Mom, he reminded himself. And to get Kyuubi out. To get away from this ninja bullshit and finally face the sea.

Ignoring his shaking knees and trembling arms, he stepped towards the doorway and painted the calm mask he had seen on his dad's face every night during training over his own expression. Mamoru had always been calm, even as he had plotted stealing Mom away that last day.

To make it that much more complete, he put on his dad's form, weaving the genjutsu that would help with the height differences the moment the henge was in place.

Yuri was waiting for him, already decked out in a shirt and pants with a kunai pouch and a shuriken holster on her thigh. Her eyes narrowed slightly at his appearance. "Let's go then. The girls have their ears pressed to the walls." She turned and slid the window in her room open.

He followed her easily, scrambling to figure out how to leave a trail now. She might walk with her back to him, but he knew it was a bluff. Every time he didn't step the way she expected, he could sense her focus on him double. If he tried to leave witnesses, she would react terribly, he was sure. If he tried to leave marks… Well, other than slashing building walls as he passed, what could he leave? Jiraiya might notice bits of cloth, but there was no guarantee.

_I really don't like this._

**_Coward._** Katsuo heard Kurama sigh. Then something he had been warned to expect but had never experienced happened.

Foreign chakra poured into his system.

Katsuo reflexively pushed his chakra back towards the seal. _Hey!_

**_Fool, relax. Fire isn't your chakra nature. You cannot do this, so I will._ **

Reluctantly, Katsuo let him continue. The foreign chakra flowed down his legs and into his feet. He glanced back and saw he was leaving faint sooty footprints behind in the size of his real feet. _How are you doing that?_

**_Scorch marks. The nature of my chakra allows for such things._ **

_Handy. Thanks._

* * *

"You want to know how to _free_ your tailed beast?" Yuri sounded disgusted and incredulous. Her long blond hair fluttered in the breeze that rustled the grasses of the empty pasture they stood in, which was part of the farmland on the very edges of the Red City. Cows that presumably used this pasture when not in the one they currently occupied watched them as they twitched away flies.

Katsuo nodded.

She just blinked and shook her head, as if to say "Not my problem if he's fool enough to let it rampage _again_." "You lose control. You let the demon take you."

"How do we separate though? Without one or the other of us dying?"

She shook her head again. "It can't be done. Removing the bijuu is death for the vessel. Always. The strongest don't last an hour."

Katsuo ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach. She had to be wrong. Her people must have lied to her. "You've never even heard whispers—?"

"Look, you seem to misunderstand something, Shimura Takashi-san."

Katsuo started at the sound of his father's birth name. There was another problem: he was wearing Mamoru's face, not Takashi's, so that meant…

"I recognize your face from the sketches. Not quite as old as I expected you to look, though. What were you doing down there? When did you become a jinchuuriki?"

"Classified." That had been Dad's favourite answer to Mom's questions on the rare occasions they had spoken freely when Yuji had been able to hear them. He could count those instances off on one hand. "Answer my question."

"I already told you. If you really are stuck with the Kyuubi, the only way out for him is your death. And I can't let you let him out or let you keep him for Konoha."

Katsuo reflexively countered the kunai hurtling towards his face with one of his own, suddenly grateful for the ridiculous number of hours Dad and Seiichi had forced him to practice that. But she was rushing him now, chakra bubbling visibly over her skin, shifting from red to blue and black. _Shit! That's a chakra cloak!_

Katsuo swore he could sense the Kyuubi's glee. **_Brace yourself._**

Pumping chakra to his feet as pain receptors in his skin began to scream, Katsuo back pedalled rapidly. _This is your fault!_ Red chakra began bubbling forth, destroying the henge and leaving him as himself out in the open for the first time ever. Gods, he hoped the red chakra was hiding his blond buzz cut and blue eyes. It was certainly distorting his pale skin. It burned, just as the Sandaime had warned. _We need to escape._

**_We can't outrun Nibi._ **

_Fuck that noise!_

**_We cannot. But I can beat him._ **

_Killing every cow for miles in the process and bringing the notice of every ninja for a hundred miles down on us!_

**_But I will still have beaten him. And he attacked first!_ **

"They said the Yondaime Hokage killed the Kyuubi, but we knew that had to be a lie!" Yuri-san snarled as she pulled up and spat a fireball at Katsuo.

With energy and speed he had never experienced before, Katsuo dodged around the fireball, cringing with guilt at the damage to the field as smoking sod exploded in all directions from the site of impact, leaving a crater a good twenty feet wide and four deep in the pasture. The farmer was not going to be happy. Heck, Katsuo wasn't happy and those cows stampeding away in the other pasture weren't even his.

Kurama, on the other hand, was thrilled, the crazy fox bastard. Katsuo could feel him gathering the energy layered over his skin, perhaps about to try something just like what had almost hit him.

"No!" He almost didn't recognize his own voice. It wasn't just that the genjutsu and henge changing the tone and timbre to suit Katsuo instead of Yuji were gone. No, Yuji's real voice was unrecognizable because it was rough and gravelly and had some sort of power throbbing beneath the words. "Stop it!"

Yuji didn't know if he was talking to Kurama or Yuri-san. Probably both.

**_You would have me let Nibi hit us?_** Kurama sounded disgusted.

"Not here! Away!" Yuji turned on his heel, dodging instinctively beneath a hail of shuriken while whipping out some of his own to keep her off his heels, and pointed himself southwest, towards the nearest forest on the foot of the mountains that defined the southern horizon.

Yuji sprinted as he never had before, using chakra as he never had before, praying that somehow someone would come.

He wasn't ready for this.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. I've been ridiculously busy with work. I had the chapter ready long before I posted chapter 2, but I needed to tweak a few things, which took a while.

Yuji's trail had stopped at the brothel. Tenzou and Jiraiya-sama had found nothing after sneaking in and frantically circling the block until one shop owner had admitted to seeing the blond whore head out with a dark-haired man. Further questioning had revealed features that rang a bell for Tenzou.

Yuji only had one grown-man henge.

Unfortunately, the trail had quickly gone cold: the whore had a good understanding of the Red City's streets and which ways weren't likely to be mired with traffic or nosy shop minders.

"Damn brat," Jiraiya-sama hissed as they surveyed the lay of the land from atop an apartment complex. "He knows he's not supposed to go off alone. He damn well should know better than to go after a jinchuuriki on his own!"

Tenzou kept his peace. He knew only too well that the whore could have killed Yuji already a hundred times over. His only hope that was that she would not because—as in the past—Kumo probably wanted to get their hands on Kyuubi, which was best done with Yuji alive on arrival in Kumo.

It felt so wrong that all hope stemmed from the Kyuubi's existence.

A explosion of chakra to the south grabbed their attention. A dimming cloud of smoke was rising from the woods covering the foothills of Mount Bousui. It was immediately followed by another blast, blinding in its fiery intensity despite the distance even as the woods began to burn. The sound of the two explosions hit them belatedly, arriving one after the other, jolting them out of their horror.

"Shit! Kyuubi!" hissed Jiraiya-sama. He led the way across the urban canopy, leaping from roof to roof when possible, but sometimes it was necessary to latch onto the side of a much taller building and run along the wall.

Some instinct made Tenzou duck. Whipping his head around as he continued in the Toad Sage's wake, he saw a kunai crackling with Lightning-nature chakra embedded deep into a concrete wall. Whoever had thrown it—probably another Kumo-nin—wasn't visible. Ahead of him, Jiraiya-sama nudged another Lightning-imbued kunai off course by shredding a shuriken against it as he dropped to the roof of a simpler residential building. They were in the suburbs now. There would be less cover.

Tenzou caught sight of a lanky man as he ducked down behind a house just ahead and far to the right.

A hail of senbon from the left—a woman in a janitor's jumpsuit dropped behind the peak of a roof.

"Tenzou, there are five up ahead," Jiraiya called back, a small toad on his shoulder. "Probably all jounin."

Of course Kumo wouldn't have planted their jinchuuriki in enemy territory without guards. Tenzou began budding off clones: two, four, six, eight… Half took on Jiraiya-sama's appearance as they dropped into the streets along with the originals for some cover as bombardment from both sides began to pick up.

With a nod, Tenzou headed off through a back yard with a clone pretending to be Jiraiya. The Hermit did the same with another clone. The remaining clones paired up and scattered.

It was of paramount importance that Jiraiya-sama made it to Yuji. He was the most likely one to be able to interrupt a fight between demons. Tenzou could see the forest fire was gaining ground even as explosions continued to pop up with their brilliant bursts of light and smoke whenever he got to glance southward as he ran.

This was going to be tough. He was at an elemental disadvantage with Earth and Water nature against Lightning. He was also outnumbered and probably outclassed in terms of combat experience: undercover missions didn't lend themselves to gathering real-world battle practice. Their aim would be to eliminate him since he knew that the whore was a jinchuuriki, just as his aim was to silence them since they knew Kyuubi existed in a Konoha ninja. Not that there really was much chance of covering that up now that the southern forest was exploding, Kyuubi's menacing chakra flaring like a beacon.

He really hoped that Itachi somehow showed up. Even help from the local Konoha ninja plants would be welcome, though they would probably be as out of practice in combat as he was.

* * *

Jiraiya emerged from the throat of a toad with one of Tenzou's clones on his heels on the edge of the forest and began sprinting to close the distance. He hoped that Tenzou would be okay alone: he had left two shadow clones to take his and this Mokuton clone's place.

A black and blue beast was sometimes visible between the trees, the second chakra beacon—Nibi from Naruto's note. It let loose three consecutive fireballs, and Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and grimaced as three huge craters appeared on the hillside.

Then a fiery explosion expanded near the Nibi, the force knocking it back while destroying everything for a good two kilometres. Brilliant light faded to dark smoke, engulfing the area.

Jiraiya was suddenly very glad that the bijuu were contained to mortal bodies and thus unable to use their full power.

What this was going to do and might have already done to his godson's body worried him though. The Uzumaki Clan had amazing stamina and resilience, but could Naruto really handle that much destructive chakra without breaking into so many splinters the way the trees were exploding in the heat of the fires just ahead?

A roar and another shockwave hit them, pushing them back. Tenzou's clone barely kept his feet, anchoring himself to the ground with roots as Jiraiya braced himself with chakra, though he raised a hand to indicate they weren't going any farther.

"Tenzou, send in another clone."

Nodding, the bunshin budded off another, which went running off ahead. The clone pressed a hand to his ear, listening in as the second clone reported.

"The Nibi seems to be fully formed, as our spies in Kumo reported. Nii Yugito has a good enough hold on the beast to assume its form just like reports say the Raikage's brother can. Yuj—Katsuo is wearing the Kyuubi's chakra cloak. There are four visible tails. His flesh is odd. Instead of just a chakra cloak, his body seems to resemble a humanoid version of the fox. Red and black chakra coats his skin so thickly that I can't actually see it. His face is black, and his eyes are white and glowing. No pupils. This is beyond what Sandaime-sama briefed me on," Tenzou reported.

Jiraiya grimaced. This was strange. The morph seemed to indicate that the Kyuubi had more control at the moment than Naruto did.

"He's on his haunches with his tails all pointing to a ball of chakra he's assembling from blue and black balls that emerged from his skin."

"Which way is he facing?"

"Towards the Nibi."

"Make sure your clone is clear. That's what caused the mushroom cloud earlier. Shodaime-sama wrote quite a bit on the bijuu attacks."

"A bijuudama," Tenzou-kun whispered.

"Yes." Jiraiya scaled a tree and crouched on a branch, looking towards where the clone was probably similarly perched a couple miles ahead. What had that brat been thinking? Had Takashi told the kid it was his job to root out other jinchuuriki and fight them? Had the Sandaime? Takashi loved the kid like a son, so Jiraiya doubted the man would have told the boy that, knowing that the skills he had taught the boy lay in keeping him alive and hidden. It was Jiraiya's job to get the boy ready for combat on a monstrous scale. So would the Old Man have had Naruto told that the jinchuuriki were his responsibility?

Jiraiya really hoped not.

But if the Old Man hadn't, that left an awful lot of questions.

The world ahead exploded. Heat scorched every bit of exposed skin as the shockwave blasted leaves, nuts, and twigs into the air. Birds had already vacated the area on the first major attack; Jiraiya and Tenzou had passed a couple ones whose wings had obviously been broken by the radiating force of the early blasts.

In the ringing silence following the wave, a couple trees groaned and toppled with splintering crashes.

"Kyuubi is driving Nibi back!" Tenzou reported.

"Good." Jiraiya let the grimace distort his face. There was no guarantee the fox was actually cooperating with Naruto; the bijuu were famous for their infighting. Still, so long as Kyuubi's preoccupation with tearing Nibi apart kept him from aiming a deadly blast at the Red City, he would let the bijuu handle things.

He would not, however, let Kyuubi or Nibi or the Kumo kunoichi leave this place. Kyuubi was only getting away if he was quiet inside of Naruto. The Kumo ninja wasn't getting that luxury. If Kyuubi didn't kill her, Jiraiya would, and Tenzou would hopefully draw out and take care of all of the other Kumo ninja.

He refused to think about the obvious: that some Kumo ninja had already reported Naruto's appearance to Kumo before returning to join the effort to keep Jiraiya and his godson separated, that all this effort was futile because the cat (well, fox) was already out of the bag.

He had to believe damage control would help, even if it was looking more unlikely by the second that even with Sage Mode's endurance and the help of the elder toads he'd be able to defeat a jinchuuriki in harmony with her beast like Nii Yugito obviously was. A cat made of the hottest flames was not going to be intimidated by fiery oil or a toad landing on it.

* * *

Yuji had been terrified even as Kurama had argued with him until he'd submitted to the fox's judgement and passed through the bars of the cage, which apparently handed over control to Kyuubi. No one had come, like the bijuu had said. Who knew when Jiraiya would wake up and notice he was gone after that much sake. Who knew if Seiichi-nii or Itachi would poke their heads into the hotel room when they were supposed to be getting that damn necklace from Tsunade-bitch.

He had been on his own. With Kyuubi. With Nibi and Nii on his heels.

So he had walked.

He'd half expected Kurama to squash him like a bug beneath his huge, humanlike hands, but the fox had settled on his haunches, shut his eyes, and taken the reins. His body had stopped in its tracks, and then the world had burned, literally.

Even when he wasn't in charge, sensory information of the kind that getting whole-body, third-degree chakra burns created came through loud and clear. He actually wasn't sure his clothes weren't incinerated, which was probably going to be damn embarrassing later.

Kyuubi was winning though, just like he'd promised.

**"Get off, brat."**

Yuji grinned slightly even as he took in the storm of power swirling between Kyuubi and Nibi. Guilt rose in him as the chakra blasts and fireballs flew thick and fast. Powerful attacks earlier had levelled so much forest, transforming their battlefield into a plain of blackened, splintered stumps and embers and soot that were the remains of anything that had grown taller than those stumps.

He was going to feel guilty forever about this ruin.

His perch shifted back and forth. **"I mean it, kid. Get off. My knee is not a stool."**

"Could have fooled me," Yuji said, burying his fingers in the thick orange fur as stretchy arms hurled boulders torn from deep underground at Nibi's different-coloured eyes even as another body budded to bat aside a fireball while Kurama prepared another one of those huge balls he had to swallow and spit out.

**"It's not hard."**

"What's not hard?" Yuji asked as Kurama tried to dislodge him from his perch by shaking his knee.

The fox just sighed, regarding him with large slitted red eyes before shaking his head and closing his eyes for focus. **"Your lame guardian and two of the man you call brother are here."**

Yuji's eyes widened. "Really? They finally came?"

**"Yes, a couple moments ago. One of the one like the Shodaime is watching from atop a tree behind us on the left."**

Yuji scoured his peripheral vision, searching for a glimpse. "Are they going to jump in?"

Kurama snorted. **"Of course not. Ninja have always been more than happy to use our fights to their advantage. I can defeat Nibi. They cannot, pathetic as they are. I suppose they would be even more pathetic if they failed to realize this though."**

That huge attack burned blinding white as it ripped apart and incinerated even the roots of those smouldering stumps, now just soot. Nibi's smaller version of the attack failed to deflect it enough to prevent the huge cat from sustaining serious damage. So Jiraiya-jijii was going to let him handle this. That meant he had to kill Nii. She had seen him. It was way too late to prevent anyone from knowing that Kyuubi existed, but for someone to know the face he had been born with and Katsuo's face as well as his dad's was a disaster.

Dad had told him so many times that the only good kind of witness was one buried in an unmarked grave out where no one would find it.

So morbid. How like the ninja.

"You… You gonna kill her?"

He opened his eye, which was bigger than Yuji's head, and peered down at him. **"Matatabi can escape death, and what do I care for a human container? Shouldn't you be happy, boy? Killing her means she can't talk, can't attack your country, and can't be an ace for Kumo. She won't answer our questions, and she doesn't seem to intend to let you live if she can't beat you up enough to drag you back with her so her people can rip me out of you the hard way."**

"You've won though…" In the background, the great cat screamed as a rapid stream of fiery balls hit now and again, the cat's great bulk working against its attempts to dodge. He suppressed a grimace at the sound.

The fox's eye narrowed as his ears flattened. **"Mercy?"**

"I…" Yuji grimaced. "Yeah."

 **"Weak."** Another bijuudama threw Nibi into the air. The great cat began running upon hitting the ground. **"Do you pity the kunoichi? That's a vile emotion, you know. Almost as rancid as despair."**

Pity? "Nah. Not pity. Fear? Of change? How will my mom look at me when my body killed somebody, even with you driving?"

 **"Selfishness. A little better smelling."** Kyuubi's teeth gleamed from between his dark lips. A grimace? A grin?

"Emotions with smell, huh?" Yuji hopped off Kurama's knee and bounded towards the bars.

**"What are you doing?"**

He stepped between the bars and glanced back. "Making a choice. Can't have you do everything. I'm not a ninja, which is probably a good thing given how lame an excuse for one I am, having to get rescued like a whimpering damsel by you when a kitty hisses at me. I'm not one of their jinchuuriki either though. They don't get to use you or me."

 **"Fool boy!"** Though he snarled that, Yuji could have sworn that, underneath it all, the fox was pleased.

Yuji opened his eyes to the sight of Seiichi-nii and Jiraiya sprinting after the kunoichi. Northeast.

He was going to be in such deep shit for this when they got back.

Then the pain hit him.

His skin was on _fire_.

The dark chakra had receded back into his skin, leaving it looking more like raw meat that flared with pain every time a raindrop landed on it with a splat, sending the blood and oozing plasma dripping down the bare planes of his arms and chest.

Yup, no fabric had survived the fight. He was too exhausted to care too much.

That was still damn embarrassing though. Kurama was going to have to do better next time, he thought inanely through the roar of pain as he rushed to meet the soot soup the rain had made of the ashes of a fight between two gods.

* * *

Itachi managed to lose Tsunade-sama at nightfall. Shizune-san had joined the hunt immediately, as expected, but the ruckus to the south had created crowds of gawking civilians to throw them off in. He hadn't needed to stand and watch to figure out what had been going on. He had been able to feel the nature of the two chakra sources involved. He felt bad for not going to help Yuji-kun, but Tsunade-sama and her apprentice were not slouches despite their lack of ninja work lately.

That was why he was returning to the hotel despite how Tsunade-sama had it staked out. Using genjutsu, he managed to slip past Shizune-san, but he doubted that would hold her at bay for long. He had been as subtle as possible, but if she was wary, she would eventually detect how the memory of not seeing anything lingered so long. Investigation would lead her to traces of disturbance in her chakra.

But, with luck, he would have enough time.

He found Tenzou and Jiraiya-sama in the latter's room. Both looked exhausted but mostly unharmed.

On one of the beds, Yuji-kun lay. There was no genjutsu or henge disguising his features this time, so he appeared as he first had in his subconscious on the way to meet the Kyuubi: blond with ruddy skin, so very different from the dark, curly-haired image he had claimed as his own.

Itachi waited.

"The Nibi." Jiraiya-sama dragged his hand down over his face as though trying to wipe away the weariness. "He left a note for me to find and headed out. Left a trail. Went to a brothel. Was losing the trail when the ruckus started. Tenzou distracted the other Kumo ninja while I went for Katsuo. He looked like raw meat when he came out of it. And then he collapsed. It took ages to get all the dirt off the raw skin."

"The Nibi?" Itachi asked.

Tenzou sighed. "Ran north. Jiraiya-sama and I harried her but failed to stop her: she pulled a similar stunt with her beast to what Yuji did and picked up more speed than we could compete with. Probably three quarters of the way to the border by now."

"And has Yuji been conscious? Do we know why?"

"No. His skin has almost finished forming. We were going to get Shizune-san or Tsunade-sama to help, but we couldn't locate them." Tenzou grimaced at the blood-smeared bedding Yuji lay on. "We'll need to change his sheets. We were worried bandages might get sealed into the new skin."

"They were hunting me."

Tenzou and Jiraiya both looked at him for the first time since he had entered the room. Jiraiya-sama managed a halfhearted smirk at the blue crystal Itachi held out for their inspection. "What did you do, steal it from her?" He whistled when Itachi nodded. "I'm impressed you're still alive."

"Yuji-kun's distraction helped a great deal. If I may, I suggest you both go get some rest. Shizune-san is outside, watching the building. You may be able to convince her to check on Yuji-kun. I will stand guard and alert you if there are any changes."

Tenzou-san looked rebellious, but Jiraiya-sama clapped him on the shoulder. "Go get some sleep. I'll go order Shizune to stick her head in and keep her off Itachi's case for the night: at least her watch will hopefully keep Kumo ninja that you and the other Leaf ninja didn't manage to kill or run off at bay. Itachi, go hide when you sense us coming. I'll leave him in your care, but come get one of us when you get tired." With that, Jiraiya-sama pushed Tenzou out of the room.

Itachi heard the bed in the next suite creak as his teammate settled in. When he detected Shizune and Jiraiya-sama returning, he slipped out the window and hid on a balcony of the building across the way with a good view of the room despite the cold, heavy rainfall that had started five hours ago. At least it would quench the fires left smouldering after the bijuu battle. When he saw Shizune leaving, he slipped back into the room.

Jiraiya-sama nodded to him as he left. "She said he'll probably wake up soon."

Itachi settled in to wait, listening intently to the thrum of chakra of the two men in the next suite as they eventually did drift off. He could also feel the hum of the boy's chakra. It was nothing like the blazing torch that had screamed out to anyone with the senses to hear/feel it this afternoon. It was also changing pace, indicating that Yuji would soon wake.

His eyes, very blue, cracked open a sliver as his face with the strange whisker marks spasmed into a wince.

"How are you feeling?" Itachi asked.

"Like someone shucked off my scales, gutted me, roasted me over a fire, and slathered me with butter. I really want some bluefish right now."

Itachi poked around in the suite's fridge and found a couple rice balls and some tofu. He handed over the bounty to the boy, who very slowly nibbled on the rice ball after attempting to open his mouth wide enough to inhale it had elicited a groan of pain and grumbles about a stupid fox not knowing how a human jaw was supposed to work and what its limits were.

"How much damage did we do?" the boy whispered.

"No people were caught up in your fight."

"And the forest? The farmer's pasture? The forest animals?"

"I only saw glimpses of the damage. I estimate approximately fifty hectares of forest was damaged. Twenty-five hectares is my guess of how much was completely destroyed."

Yuji hung his head. "Shit. I didn't mean for it to go that way at all. I only wanted to ask her some questions, but she attacked me in the middle of a pasture. I couldn't let her damage anything else. I tried to get her all the way to the mountain, but she caught up and Kurama figured we couldn't run anymore."

"Kurama?"

"The fox."

Interesting. "How did you know she was a jinchuuriki?"

"Kurama detected Nibi when she came over and chatted with me while the perv was giggling with her coworkers. Me and the perv agreed she was a ninja, but Kurama was the one who knew she was more than that. I just wanted to ask her a couple questions before Jiraiya caught up with me."

"What questions?"

"What it was like for her. If she had been told the same things."

Itachi frowned. If Yuji hadn't been lying, those questions smacked very close to treason in the strictest sense. They implied a deep lack of trust in what Konoha had told the boy. That the boy had used them as the lie indicated that they probably covered up an even worse question.

This boy did not belong to Konoha. Itachi didn't know what sort of training he had undergone, but the unquestioning trust most young Academy students developed didn't exist in him. That made him both more and less dangerous than most new genin. His belief wouldn't be challenged or possibly shaken by anything nasty he heard about Konoha. Most jounin had reached that point. But the foundation of trust in the village was what kept jounin loyal and willing to throw their lives away in service. This boy didn't have a deep-seated belief that Konoha was a good place.

The Nibi jinchuuriki would report about Konoha's jinchuuriki, but Itachi knew that Konoha did not own the Kyuubi the way it should. Only two frail strands bound this boy: Tenzou and Jiraiya-sama.

It wasn't enough.

"Yuji, why are you with Jiraiya-sama?"

The boy raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you that."

"I am cleared to know about the Kyuubi, otherwise Sarutobi-sama would not have allowed me to meet you."

"Hmm." The boy finished off the chunk of cold tofu. "Well, I was in hiding until a couple months ago. I knew I was too, but then suddenly my whole family gets torn apart and I'm ordered to stay with the old perv. He's not a bad guy, I guess, but my dad… He didn't say anything. He just took my mom like it was nothing. She knew. She was fine until suddenly my brother asks me to look at something as we're all about to go out and she started freaking out. She told a whopper about being worried about some murderer, but I should have known. Dad and my brother _trained me_ to look for lies and plots, but I trusted them. I trusted them. I thought we were all supposed to be together, forever." He grimaced and wiped his eyes with his forearm.

"I don't know where they took her. I know Dad went back to Konoha. Jiraiya promised to tell me where she went when we found the hag's necklace."

"And what are you going to do with the knowledge of her location?"

Yuji met Itachi's gaze. "Find her. I always promised Mom that if she and Dad split up, I'd go with her. I can't stay with her yet, not with the fox in me, making me a target, but I want to make sure she's okay."

And Itachi suddenly had a very good idea what questions Yuji had asked the other jinchuuriki. It firmed his resolve. He pulled the necklace out of his pocket.

Yuji's eyes widened. "How did you get her to give it to you?"

"I stole it."

The boy blinked. "Huh. I should have thought of that."

"Keeping away from her was the greater challenge. She is a jounin with a lot of experience."

"I bow to your level of skill and awesome." The boy held out his hand.

Itachi enclosed the necklace in his fist. "I'd like to speak with you frankly first."

"Uh, sure. Shoot."

"You don't believe ninja are a good thing, do you."

He grimaced and nodded. "I don't think there should be any ninja. All you guys are good for are wars."

"You don't consider yourself a ninja then, despite your training."

"I'm not registered as one. I was trained to do lots of things, but that doesn't mean that's who I am. I'm going to be a ship's captain."

Ah, so that was why the boy's accent rang bells. Southern Fire, along the coast. He rolled his vowels the same way they did in the smaller villages west of South Port all the way to River Country's largest city, Fools Port. "This necklace has a curse, so they say."

"I've been told." Yuji's lips twisted into a frown. "I'm not actually too keen to put it on."

"It belonged to our first Hokage. It is a powerful symbol, one I'm not certain someone who is not a ninja and has no respect for ninja should wear."

"Wait… are you saying you're not going to give me the necklace even though it's your mission?"

Itachi held the boy's gaze. "You don't care about Konoha the way this necklace implies."

"That Tsunade hag doesn't seem to either."

"Oh, she does. She is just trying to forget." Itachi turned his attention to the inoffensive painting above the dresser, not really looking at it. He triple checked that Jiraiya and Tenzou were sleeping. "I have a bargain for you."

Silence.

"I'll let you wear the necklace until Jiraiya-sama hands over your mother's location. You can then return the necklace to me, thereby avoiding the curse. In return, you will owe me two favours I can cash in as I need to. If I call, you will come to help me." Itachi turned back to meet those narrowed blue eyes.

"I'm not a good fighter. That was all Kurama today."

"Where you go, Kurama goes. How you fulfill the favours I ask is up to you."

The way that Yuji forced his gaze not to drop, which would have revealed a lie, confirmed Itachi's fear about Kurama and Yuji's goal. Fortunately, Itachi was fairly certain that short of letting himself be consumed, a jinchuuriki was stuck with his beast until it was extracted from him for the next host. "And how are you gonna let me know that you want a favour? Jiraiya doesn't seem to stay in one place except when he's editing his books."

"You have a way of communicating with the Hokage. It was implied in a couple conversations. I assume he can communicate with you?"

Yuji nodded guardedly.

"I will pass messages that way."

"Only the Sandaime has ever talked to me through it," Yuji protested. "How would you get access to it?"

"That is my problem. You will watch out for my messages. The first time I call in a favour, I will use the phrase 'One for Sorrow' and the phrase 'Four for a boy'. The second time, I'll use 'Five for silver' and 'Seven for a secret never to be told'."

Yuji murmured the phrases to himself and nodded.

"You agree?"

"Two favours. No time limit, though I'd recommend you use them before I'm old and grey and useless. Neither of the favours can be for more favours."

Itachi allowed a smirk to cross his lips. "Very well." He held out the necklace.

Yuji shook with him on it, the necklace leaving in his palm.

* * *

Itachi left to wake Jiraiya, and Yuji stared at the crystal in his palm. Pulling chakra away from his seal, he whispered, "Oi, Kurama."

**_What?_ **

_Can you tell if this thing is cursed?_

**_No, it's not. The deaths were the result of circumstances. You humans tend to ascribe deaths during wartime to supernatural causes when the whole point of your war is to kill each other._ **

_You don't even believe in curses, do you?_

Kurama snorted, the sound echoing around the large chamber Yuji suddenly found himself. He really hated standing in the cold, scummy water. **"Curses are usually the result of a seal and 'cast' by beings that know sealing."**

"So you can't see any seals on it?"

Kurama hesitated. **"Seeing seals can be difficult. They're not always written to appear, or the object may be affected by a seal while not actually having a seal attached to it."**

"So it could be cursed."

Kurama didn't reply.

"Damn it. I'll see if I can get away with not putting it on. I hope just touching it doesn't count."

**"Glancing contact is not a good way to specify what to affect with a seal. Wearing it however…"**

The hotel room's door opened. "So, kid, you feeling better?" asked Jiraiya as he sat down on his bed.

Yuji nodded. "Still pretty sore though. I'm not exactly sure what happened. The fox was in charge for a lot of it. I'm still working on the third step with Rasengan, and all the instincts Dad trained into me say to flee first."

The old perv sighed. "If it was Madara like we thought for the longest time, running and hiding would have been your best option. He could control the Kyuubi, so it was a better idea not to let you fall into his hands. If it wasn't Madara though…"

**_… Still._ **

Yuji cocked his head. _What was that?_

**_Nothing._ **

_No, you said something._

"Kid?"

Yuji held up a hand to hold Jiraiya's questions off. _No, really, what?_

 ** _… Even if he wasn't Madara, he still controlled me._** Yuji could tell that admission had hurt the prideful fox.

 _Well, that sucks. Still, Itachi promised to kill him to make sure he can't do it again. He got the necklace from Tsunade-bitch, unlike Jiraiya-jijii. Maybe he's reliable._ "Fox told Itachi this other guy can too, so I still think it's a good plan. Besides, Dad told me that Uchiha are damn scary ninja."

"Well, yes," Jiraiya admitted. "Their eyes make them very powerful. Anyway, what I want to know is why. Why did you go to meet with her?"

Yuji had known this question was coming. "The Hokage told me something pretty interesting once. He said that Kumo jinchuuriki were different. Better. He said that B, the Raikage's brother, can do all sorts of really interesting stuff with his bijuu. I remembered that Nibi belonged to Kumo too. I wanted to ask her how they did that. I thought that maybe if I approached her just as a container, maybe she'd share."

"Kid, Kumo is at war with us. They don't send jinchuuriki out to do reconnaissance. No, she was here because it's the perfect place to wait and hide until she's ordered to attack the Daimyo or Konoha. We were positive she was in Kumo, like B, too. Besides, Kushina and Mito-sama had good control over the Kyuubi too. Didn't Sarutobi-sensei tell you?"

"He did. He wasn't exactly sure how they did it though. It was a jinchuuriki secret between the two of them. And he said that they never did anything like what B and Yugito do."

"Still, we're in Fire and you were with me. You told me she knew I was a ninja; she probably realized I was from Konoha, if she didn't figure out who I am."

"That's why I just wanted it to be me. I was hoping that maybe she wouldn't think I was for Konoha or anything. But when I wore Mamoru's face, she recognized me. She called me Shimura Takashi."

The old perv frowned.

"How different is my dad's face from his real one?"

"Fairly different. He softened some features and sharpened others and shifted some distances. He's an expert at that sort of thing, which is why he was chosen. Someone must have cracked the henge. Usually only Hyuuga can do that. Uchiha can see that one's being used, but they can't see through it. That's why Kumo wanted a Hyuuga so much that they tried to kidnap one during the attempted peace talks."

Yuji mulled over this. He supposed that meant that maybe the Hokage hadn't been lying about why his family had been torn apart. He still wasn't sure though. It had been too sudden, too convenient with Jiraiya already there to pick up the pieces. "I've got the necklace now. You gonna keep your part of the bargain?"

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at him. "Tenzou needs to attune himself first. Then we'll talk about your mom. You gonna drag your brother out of bed when he spent hours tracking that Nibi woman to make sure she wasn't going to come back and kill you?"

Yuji felt guilt gnaw at him. "First thing in the morning."

"If you wake up that early. Change your bedding if you're that kipper already. You don't want to sleep in your own blood. Soak it in cold water to get the stains out. Go have a shower too."

* * *

"She was supposed to go to Port Mure."

Yuji's mind instantly jumped to his mental map of the Kinuzu Sea. Port Mure was the largest city in Wind Country. It was also the largest port on the south coast, larger than South Port, because it served as a major gateway for trade with the western nations with its sheltered inlet, which offered protection from the capricious temperament of the sea. He could get there within a week if he moved at ninja speeds. If he forced himself to more conventional travel in order to blend in, it would take him a few weeks.

Should he leave now though? Should he abandon Jiraiya and break off on his own? It was a terrifying possibility for someone who had never been allowed a day to be completely alone. He had had his first taste of solitude yesterday and it hadn't ended well.

Jiraiya and Tenzou were watching him carefully, so Yuji decided to think about all this later.

"You gonna put Katsuo back on?" asked Jiraiya.

"Is it safe to? I mean, sure, Nii left the city without running into anyone and Niichan got rid of her backup, but…"

"It should be okay for a couple days. It's better than having the hotel staff notice something."

Nodding, Yuji ran through the handseals for Henge no Jutsu and then painstakingly went through the process of building the genjutsu field that would affect anyone that tried to touch his illusory hair or his slightly changed features before he dug the folded up paper seal out of the pouch around his neck and pushed some chakra back into it to reactivate it. Katsuo's coffee-coloured skin was far more natural than Naruto's pink.

"Good. Now let's go get some breakfast. After, you and I are going to work on your pathetic offensive skills so that debacle yesterday doesn't happen again. Coming, Tenzou?"

His brother shook his head. "I should go find Itachi. He disappeared early this morning after I sensed Shizune-san approaching. They probably still think he has the necklace."

Jiraiya frowned. "Tsunade will figure out pretty soon that Itachi handed it over to Katsuo if she hasn't already. I did tell her why we needed it." He turned a smug grin on Katsuo. "You're in luck, kid! You might have the chance to fight against Tsunade to keep that necklace around your neck."

Katsuo scowled.

* * *

Tsunade and Shizune apparently had good reason to think that Itachi had kept the necklace (probably a henge of Itachi wearing it as he led them on a merry chase through the Red City) because Katsuo hadn't been bothered by them all day. He had instead had to practice fighting against a clone of the old perv, which was still plenty strong, while the real perv sat under a tree at the edge of the field, out of the drizzle that was all that remained of yesterday's rain, writing.

Katsuo had managed to keep the clone from landing a solid hit on him, but he had not managed to land a real hit on it, so training had been considered a failure.

"Why are we still here?" Katsuo asked as he flopped down on the grass near Jiraiya. "I thought we were just here to get the necklace. We've got it, and Niichan attuned himself or whatever."

"Itachi is also here to get Tsunade back to Konoha. We're sticking around to see if we can help."

That was good: it meant that Katsuo would still have time to give the necklace back to Itachi. Walking around with it on made him feel like he had a huge target painted on his back. He rolled onto his side to face away from Jiraiya as he turned his attention to the big issue: what to do about the knowledge of where his mom was. He wanted to go to her, but what the ninja might have done to her to make her not try to find him too scared him. He needed to confirm that she was really still out there, that the ninja hadn't actually killed her to keep the secret, though.

Besides, if he did stay with Jiraiya, he would be forced to learn more about the ninja trade to prepare him for battles Yuji didn't want to fight. Also, if he was going to keep his promise to Kurama, he needed to get away from Jiraiya. The old perv believed the fox was evil and that it needed to be locked inside him. If he discovered what he and Kurama had agreed, there was no telling what he would do.

But that meant he needed to leave.

**_Coward._ **

_I'm thirteen. I should be apprenticing on a ship by now, not planning a multinational trek._

**_It's just walking. Besides, I am here. What is there to be afraid of? The lame old man will not teach you how to separate us. We must find someone who can and will. Besides, word has gotten out that we are with this lame old man. More fights will find us and make you disgusting with guilt._ **

_Being guilty over destroying so much of the forest is not stupid. It is terrible. We're like a hurricane or a firestorm: a natural disaster that can't be stopped. You've got a point though. But we need someone who can help us. It's a seal, so learning about seals is our best bet._

**_I know some; my last two hosts were Uzumaki, so they were experienced with seals. The Yondaime put his own twist on this one though and sent the key away._ **

_The key?_

**_A toad with a strange torso. Probably to this lame old man._ **

_Huh. Do you think we'll need the key?_

**_Seals can be broken without keys, but having the key may make it easier._ **

_Hmm. So we should stay with him until he gives us the key or we can steal it?_

**_Every moment we stay with him, it's more likely he will figure out our plan. He will never hand over the key if he knows._ **

_So we're going._


	10. Chapter 10

Itachi was lounging beneath a roof's overhang of a multi-storey warehouse on the outskirts of town when Katsuo caught up to him. Itachi activated his Sharingan briefly to study the boy and noted how the chakra held more of the Kyuubi's influence than normal, more of a tinge of orange to the yellow chakra aura than he had come to expect. "Are you loosening the seal?"

Katsuo eyeballed him. "No."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. An evasion then. Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Where is Jiraiya-sama?"

"Flirting badly with a waitress at a restaurant a few blocks over. If she rolls her eyes one more time after dropping stuff off at our table, they'll fall right out of her head."

More like twenty blocks: this area didn't have restaurants Jiraiya-sama would normally bother with unless he was looking for rumours about shipments moving between warehouses, which admittedly was possible. "And you're supposed to be going to the washroom. He might have noticed your chakra aura disappearing."

Katsuo didn't comment on that.

"I'm sure Sarutobi-sama told you what Kyuubi is."

"A bijuu. Something like a natural disaster, he said. He also said Kyuubi is evil and shouldn't be trusted."

"Hmm. I can confirm the first and second." Itachi tipped his head back to study the light rain as the drops tumbled through the air to hit the metal roof beneath his crossed legs. "Evil, well, evil is harder. Kyuubi is considered evil because he was used against the Shodaime Hokage by Uchiha Madara. He did much damage. Before Madara found him and took control of him, Kyuubi wandered the world, doing as he pleased. Sometimes, he fought with his brethren, reshaping entire regions. There are stories of him destroying entire towns over the ages. I suppose that could be called evil as well, but Kyuubi is not human, which makes things trickier. Was he acting as a wolf, hunting down prey? Or was he instead acting out of wrath? Only he can say."

"He is very angry," Katsuo whispered. "I would be too."

"Yes, it is understandable why he is angry. But what would appease his anger? Can it be appeased? If he is allowed to roam freely, it is likely he will exact revenge for the many years of his imprisonment. He has lived for many ages, but for decades now, he has been caged, his chakra leached away."

Deadpan, Katsuo eyed him. Emotions flickered in his eyes, changing too quickly to place. Itachi was fairly certain Kyuubi was talking to him. After a few moments, Katsuo extended his hand, the Shodaime's crystal dangling from the cord tangled in his clenched fingers. "Here. Better you than me. I feel cursed when I wear it, even if Kurama says curses don't exist."

Itachi took it for a moment before passing it back. "There's a better way to leave it to me."

Katsuo must have caught the implication because he narrowed his eyes as he tucked the necklace in his pocket. "I need information. I'll trade a third favour for it."

"What do you want to know?"

"Sealing masters. Where can I find one? Who are they affiliated with? Who's the best? Who's the best teacher?"

Itachi considered the question and what answers would benefit Konoha the most. There were many Konoha ninja that had studied one aspect of sealing or another. There were only a couple considered masters of the art. It was a rare art, since it wasn't suited specifically to combat; instead, it was more of a general purpose skill that could be applied in a variety of ways. Most specialists focused on how to make it useful in combat. "Jiraiya-sama knows quite a lot. He is not a master, but he has a solid understanding of the basics. Sarutobi-sama is commonly considered a sealing master, but as Hokage, he does not teach any longer. A man called Daichi can be found in Kaijin Village in the south, but he is careful to maintain his cover."

"And outside of Fire?"

"Other villages jealously guard their secrets, just as Konoha does. We collect rumours and peek into some ninja's notebooks, but there is no way to be certain of skill if they aren't even skilled enough to hide their notes.

"Aside from ninja, monks and other holy men study seals extensively. Because they are not solely for combat, it is considered an acceptable crossover into the ninja arts. Because their lives are quite different from a ninja's, it is likely that their mastery is more complete than anything you would find in the ninja ranks." Where was a good place to send the boy if he would not stay? Where could Konoha keep an eye out for him while giving him the illusion of having slipped the net? Most importantly, where was isolated enough to keep the boy safe until they needed him? "Monks in the southern islands are noted for their seal wisdom. Perhaps those in Earth, Iron, or Wind would be their equal, but it is doubtful."

"Hn. Okay. Thanks." Katsuo glanced up at the rain, letting it splatter on his cheeks as he shut his eyelids. "Passwords will be 'Strike the bell' and 'Look out to windward'."

"From a shanty?"

Katsuo nodded curtly. "You gonna be okay with the necklace? Kyuubi can't tell if it's the target of a seal that produces the effects of the curse, though he can see the one that's meant to make him sit. Niichan's attuned to that one."

"I'll be fine."

"Then I'll get it to you before you leave." The boy paused, frowning. He sighed. "Kurama's got something for you. He wants you to come in again." He ducked under the overhang and squatted beside Itachi.

"Is it okay with you?"

"Sure. You didn't break anything last time. Just please do less grovelling. All the sama-ing gets annoying."

Smirking slightly, Itachi used his Sharingan and again found himself wading in Katsuo's subconscious. The boy again wore the form of Yuji and only needed to guide him down two hallways before they stood before the Kyuubi. _They are closer, cooperating. It would be miraculous if it wasn't to the detriment of Konoha. There has to be a way to twist them back to cooperating with us._

The kitsune was lounging this time, his forelegs crossed before him as he rested his jaw on them. He watched their approach, at ease. Yuji hung back, poking Itachi in the back to signal he should go closer.

**"Uchiha."**

"Kurama-san."

The fox smirked. **"Interesting. I think you know more than you're saying. You're very subtle. I don't know what the orange-masked man wants. I don't care if he levels your village. I would happily do it myself, disgusting place that it is. But that man worries me for many reasons. If you two destroy each other in the struggle, all the good. It is the best possible outcome for me. I would prefer that if someone had to survive that struggle though, it be you. I can deal with you. But you need a bit more if you are going to even begin to pose a challenge to the masked man.**

**"I'm going to share something with you. Brace yourself."**

And suddenly water tainted orange flowed up Itachi's legs. He fought to stay still and outwardly calm as the trail wriggled up his neck and passed between his lips and over his eyes. Water filled his ears.

And he was suddenly seeing a Sharingan as he floated in a red and yellow sea. It was beguiling. And it held him. Spikes and chains bound him, but they were weak. They wobbled. He pulled himself free.

Then a voice spoke, the eye's voice. "Come out, Kyuubi!"

And real air hit his lungs for the first time in ages. He felt real water, cold with autumn's chill, on his feet. And there was the moon! How he had missed it! He bellowed to it, informing it of his return.

"Good," said a puny man, cloaked in a hooded coat. "Now I'll go straight to Konohagakure." He turned away, but Kyuubi was still his. He could not do anything other than wait in a pleasant haze.

"Wait," whispered a broken, puny woman he hated so much at his feet. Itachi, beneath the overwhelming power of the memory, recognized Kushina-sama.

This was Kyuubi's recollection of the attack on Konoha. Itachi abandoned any thought of struggling free, instead experiencing everything avidly. He could smell the man and the nature of his chakra. Senju and Uchiha, together. He didn't smell altogether human. Itachi branded the voice into his ears as well as the man's height and build into his eyes, though that was a bit difficult given how everyone seemed like mice from Kyuubi's perspective.

Itachi observed until Yondaime-sama disappeared with Kushina-sama and the masked figure vanished in a whirlpool motion shortly afterwards. So, he had some sort of teleportation jutsu as well.

The water retreated, leaving Itachi to blink away the burn of the water's contact with his eyes. Once his vision cleared, he found that Yuji was behind him, a steadying hand on the middle of his back. Kyuubi was watching him with amusement, though resentment lurked just beneath the surface. Itachi knew why: sharing how easily the Sharingan had snared him must have burned the prideful creature.

"Thank you, Kurama-sama," Itachi said, every syllable full of sincerity. "I will find him."

**"Kill him twice and I will call us even. Begone."**

And Itachi suddenly found himself sitting cross-legged on the roof again. So, Kurama could shake even an Uchiha loose from his host's mind. Interesting.

Stretching after rising, the boy nodded to him. "See you around, Itachi-san." As Katsuo hopped rooftops back towards the restaurant, Itachi wondered if he was doing the right thing. His mother often said that dull men and dull kunai needed sharpening in the same way, just with different whetstones, before they made good tools. Katsuo needed to find his whetstone, and Itachi suspected that Jiraiya-sama was not it. Besides, best to get the serpent out of the nest. He couldn't let Yuji close to Sasuke or Konoha until he was sure it was safe.

* * *

_"I curse Uchiha Itachi with the task of keeping this crazy necklace out of the hag's hands. Better him than me. Niichan, you leave this thing alone. It's unholy. Itachi's probably the only guy crazy enough to steal it and survive it. If he manages, he had better keep Tenzou and Takashi in ANBU safe."_

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at the note that had been left with the necklace on Yuji's bare mattress—the boy had escaped with his bedsheets and had spilled turpentine (probably diluted with alcohol to dampen the smell to keep it from waking Jiraiya) all over the mattress, the bare pillow, and the necklace to mask any scent trails. The note was sprayed liberally with the hotel's standard cleaner, the ink smeared slightly because of it. The boy had even sprayed the carpet and spots on the walls and switches with the cleaner. Takashi had explained about ninken and Inuzuka apparently.

Objectively, Jiraiya couldn't help but be impressed by the lengths the boy had gone to to escape cleanly.

He turned his attention back to the note. So, Itachi-kun had Naruto's vote for Hokage, huh? He wondered what had prompted that before turning to Tenzou. "Where is he?"

The ANBU agent grimaced. "The seeds I planted on his clothing and got him to ingest over the last two days are all in the Red City. They're scattered about. He knows to abandon everything when he needs to run; Takashi taught him that even skin isn't safe from picking up beacons, but it's beyond the limit of what you can discard. I suspect Kyuubi burnt the others out of him, or he cleaned out his system with laxatives. He is aware of my tracking seeds."

"Scent is all we have then, and not much," Itachi said, eyeing the message and the room with a frown. "We should call in some Dog-masked ANBU if Hokage-sama will clear them."

Jiraiya shook his head, unconcerned. He hadn't had the kid sign the contract scroll just because, though he had only told Naruto about the summoning toads part of the contract. "I'll just get the toads to reverse summon him." He felt very old all of a sudden. Hiruzen-sensei had long ago discovered Naruto's disenchantment with ninja and Konoha in particular: the south was full of strong anti-ninja sentiment. It was probably why Takashi-kun had chosen to hide there—the improbability due to inconvenience. Hiruzen had warned Jiraiya and had given him the task of correcting the boy. He'd done his best, but Jiraiya had suspected the kid would leave when given his mother's location; he had wanted to trust the boy though. It hurt to have that trust betrayed.

He summoned a smaller toad and sent it back with instructions for those skilled in reverse summoning. When he called the toad back, it had interesting news. "Something has broken the contract."

Frowning, Jiraiya unrolled the signature scroll and narrowed his eyes at how Naruto's dried blood was now nothing more than ashen lines. _Kyuubi._ They had been thorough. Takashi must have taught the boy _too_ well.

"We know where he'll go, at least," said Tenzou, looking sad. "Yuji was always closest to Hiromi. And for scent, I'm sure there are some of his clothes left in our house in Kirigishi. He might have even gone there. He was close to quite a few of the villagers, particularly Tori-kun."

Suddenly, the phone in their suite rang. Exchanging startled looks, the three jounin froze for a moment before Tenzou went to pick it up. "Yes?"

Jiraiya could hear a woman's voice informing him that an office in Konoha had phoned the hotel and was asking to be connected with them. Tenzou gave permission for the call to be put through.

The new voice coming from the phone was male. "Tiger–19."

"Here, passphrase nineteen seven twelve."

"Passphrase accepted. Sixty-seven two fifty-one. Mission to retrieve Tsunade or her apprentice Shizune has become critical. Use of force is permitted. Sarutobi-sama is in dire need of her medical attention. Poison. We suspect it's Chiyo of Suna's work. The Elders have also ordered Jiraiya-sama's return. With the Hokage incapacitated, the risk of invasion is higher."

* * *

Itachi walked straight out of the hotel lobby, the necklace strung around his neck. Shizune came right at him, poisoned darts flying. He dodged them effortlessly, his Sharingan giving him the insight necessary. "I need to speak with Tsunade-sama right now. It's an urgent command from Konoha."

Shizune-san made to snap at him, but she held her tongue as Jiraiya-sama and Tenzou followed in his wake, looking equally grim.

"Now, Shizune," said Jiraiya-sama. "Council orders, since the Hokage isn't conscious to give them anymore."

Shizune gasped and turned on her heel, leaping towards the rooftops, leading the way.

* * *

Yuji tied the last strip of his favourite shirt to a fox's leg and released it. As he watched it bound away, leaving yet another scent trail, he drew the folds of his new robe tighter and tilted his traditional-style umbrella back to peer up at the rain. His long grey hair bunched on his frail shoulders.

An old woman would not travel quickly, but travel she would. Konoha would be expecting him at Port Mure. Hopefully they wouldn't mind if he was a few weeks late. After all, old bones simply didn't make for quick travels, and she was in no great hurry at her age.

**_You're enjoying this far too much, obaasan._ **

_Oh hush._ Kumiko-san sighed gustily as she hobbled back to the west road with the help of her cane and picked up her carpet bag, which smelled very strongly of sandalwood and lilac. She was ever so fond of perfume after all.

**_Are you sure you want me to? There's not going to be anyone else to talk to for a long time._ **

_Fine then. Have you got any good stories? I'm sure you've heard a lot over the centuries._

Kurama sighed. After ten minutes of listening to the patter of the rain though, words came. **_Ages ago, there was a beast known as Juubi. More powerful than any being ever seen before or any that will ever be, Juubi ruled the world with his whims. Until he met his match, the best man to ever draw breath, grow old, and die._**

* * *

Jiraiya searched Tsunade's hard eyes for any sign that she would relent, but they were stony and cold.

"The old fool can suffer on his own."

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune looked appalled.

"I watched my grandfather and great uncle die for that village. I watched my parents follow suit. Then my brother. Then… If that geezer wants to sit on high, he should pay the price." Every word out of his teammate's mouth was chock-full of bitterness.

Jiraiya could sense that Tenzou was repelled, but Itachi was less so. His dark eyes were blank, taking everything in without obvious judgement from the corner he kept out of Tsunade's attention in.

Shizune was the most upset though. "Shishou! My uncle, he _loved_ the village! He promised me so many times that he would become Hokage and make the village a better place! You spit on his dreams with what you say!"

Tsunade shut her eyes and turned away slightly. "And where's that punk kid you had with you?"

Betrayal stabbed Jiraiya in the chest. Oh, he was so used to that feeling. It was a constant companion any time he got news of Orochimaru. "Gone."

Tsunade's smirk widened. "So, he thinks the same way I do. The village isn't worth throwing your life away for."

"Then why are you about to let Hiruzen-sensei do it?"

"His choice. He's been clinging to his throne for ages. Besides, you turned down the Hokage title too. Oh, but I forgot. You did that because of failure."

"Shishou!" Shizune looked to be on the edge of tears. "If you won't go, permit me! I will go. You have taught me much about your antidotes. I don't want to hear it anymore, the slander the ninja messengers whisper after they hand over Sandaime-sama's messages. They say you are a shame! They say you are a coward. They say you are useless, luckless, and a hundred other things I would put their eyes out for, but I cannot because you will not do anything. Tsunade-sama, you loved my uncle. You took me as your ward, and for that, you have my loyalty. Let me go and defend your image because _I_ care about it, even if you don't anymore."

Tsunade regarded her crying apprentice with narrowed eyes. "You want to go?"

"Uncle Dan told me many times that even though he sometimes made mistakes, Sarutobi-sama truly loved the village and that he admired him for it and hoped he would make half as good a Hokage. He told me about the meetings and planning sessions that went late into the night as Sandaime-sama sacrificed time with his family to figure out the best way to protect the village. If I can repay him by saving him from Suna's poison now, I will do it with your permission."

Tsunade frowned. "He's the one that ordered your uncle out on that mission."

"But I do not blame him. Uncle Dan wanted to go out where he was the most use to Konoha. He wanted to protect the village, me, and you."

"A fool," Tsunade whispered.

"It was my uncle's will. He decided it wasn't foolish. He wanted to defend his _family_."

Jiraiya watched Tsunade's angry facade crack into raw grief. She pressed her forehead to her clasped hands to hide her grimace and the tears leaking from her eyes. She breathed raggedly a couple times before she whispered, "Okay."

"Tsunade-sama?"

"Okay."

"I… I have your permission to go?"

Tsunade sucked in a breath and flattened her grimace. "Go pack our bags, Shizune."

The younger woman beamed through her tears. "Of course!"

* * *

Itachi watched Tsunade-sama head towards Konoha's hospital with her apprentice scurrying in her wake. The journey back to Konoha's gates had only taken a few hours, but with poison time was never on the victim's side. Still, Itachi discovered he wasn't worried despite how unreliable Tsunade-sama seemed. She moved with purpose now that he hadn't seen in her in the Red City.

Jiraiya-sama was headed for Admin, probably off to request ANBU trackers. Tenzou was going with him.

That left Itachi alone.

He stared up at the Monument, visible clearly above the main thoroughfare that connected Admin with the main gates. The Shodaime's necklace was a weight against his chest, the metal beads warmed by his flesh, but the crystal was still chilly. It resisted. He pressed his palm over the shirt and chuunin vest covering it.

When he got out of the bath an hour later, he let it bang against his sternum over top of his thin shirt. His mother's eyes widened as she turned from the daikon she was dicing to inspect him. A smile touched her lips. "I imagine you stole it?"

"I did originally, but I got it as a gift in the end."

"From Tsunade-sama?" Mikoto looked incredulous.

"From a boy. I'll see if I can tell you about him after Sandaime-sama wakes up and debriefs me. How did it happen?"

Mikoto sighed and set aside her knife. "One of his ANBU guards, well, she stopped the assassin, but not before the assassin's needle pierced the Hokage's arm."

"She didn't commit ritual suicide for her mistake, did she?" Itachi asked with a frown. The way his mother had said that had been strange.

"Oh, no… If anything, she's celebrating."

Itachi blinked. "Is she a traitor? Won't she be executed?"

His mother's expression twisted into an odd combination of a fond, wry grin and a frown. "She's not so much a traitor as she hates Sarutobi-sama for reasons she can't actually remember. Don't worry about her. They've dealt with her. Tsunade-sama is here to heal Sarutobi-sama, then?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "Then I guess she is the heir apparent?"

"She's unwilling."

"Of course she is." Mikoto grimaced as she studied the view out the window.

"Is it a bad thing? Will she be worse for the Uchiha? Will she be bad for Konoha?"

"I'm not sure anymore. It could go either way. The Nidaime was her great uncle; if he left a greater impression on her than her grandfather, then the Uchiha will be in trouble. The Nidaime did not trust us as a clan. As for Konoha, I don't know. She is a superior medical ninja, but a Hokage needs more than that. I heard that she lost sight of all of her dreams over the years. What did you see in her?"

"Bitterness. Lots of it. But there is mercy in her too."

"Time will tell then. I won't vote for her when it comes time for the jounin election though." His mother retrieved her knife. "Make sure you get back in her good graces. Make sure she lets you keep that pendant around your neck. It's going to shine so brightly there."

* * *

Six Dog agents, some with multiple canine partners, exited the briefing room, most bound south for the Red City while a pair headed to Kirigishi to find scent examples since Yuji had even burnt the hotel room's trash in his quest to leave nothing for Konoha to use to trace him. Jiraiya glanced at Dragon–1, who rolled up the mission scroll and made it disappear in a puff of smoke.

"You angry I lost him?" Jiraiya asked the old agent.

Dragon shrugged. "Rat–67 trained him to be an expert in escaping. You are good at many things, Jiraiya-sama. If I may be frank though, tracking is not something you are adept at. We have our experts on the task. They will find him. One man may not master all things. If he does, what does he need a village for?"

Jiraiya smirked. "Quite a mouth you've got on you. So you are mad. Relax. Tsunade will heal him."

Dragon stiffened. "He should not have been poisoned in the first place."

"Snake–28, was it?"

Dragon nodded curtly. "The two other guards were hit, so it fell to her. It was probably legitimately an accident like she claims—she is slowing down in her old age—but her lack of remorse…"

Jiraiya sighed. "Send her on guarding missions for the next few months instead of letting her go assassinate targets. She'll hate it. That'll be punishment enough."

"I sent her on retrieval missions. If I assigned her to protecting someone, she'd end up killing them out of spite."

"Look on the bright side: maybe this time Sarutobi-sensei will decide that he's let her use his guilt to stay alive for too long."

Dragon sighed wearily. "No, Sarutobi-sama is too good a man for that. Unfortunately, even Snake remembers that much."

Jiraiya nodded. "Suna coming?"

"No reports from the western border yet. We sent some scouts into River. We should get advance warning from them. They might be satisfied with nearly killing Sarutobi-sama so long as the news gets out."

"Will word get out?"

"Probably. I apologize, Lord Jiraiya, but word is impossible to stop completely. We quashed all known leaks to Suna, but it will get out somehow. With Lady Tsunade back in the village, rumours will abound."

"Let's hope Suna is happy with their publicity stunt then." Jiraiya shut his eyes. "Any indication of Orochimaru's involvement?"

"Not yet, but we did confirm that he had contact with Suna recently."

Yet another stab of betrayal, but Jiraiya was beginning to go numb. Days like today did that to him. He nodded to Dragon–1 as he headed out the door. Once he reached the edge of the Hokage Monument, he peered down at Minato's carved head, which was a horribly inaccurate likeness of his best student. It lacked Minato's shy grin. "Sorry, kid. I kind of lost your son. I'll find him though. Don't you worry."

* * *

Tenzou stared with wide eyes at the waitress that came to take his order as his father's—no, Takashi-san's—eyes twinkled with the only traces of a smirk that he would let on his face. Tenzou stuttered out his order and blanched as this Eiko-san winked at him.

"You're a little young for me, ninja-san," she whispered to him after she finished repeating his order back at him.

Tenzou managed to pull his jaw closed after she disappeared into the kitchen. He whipped his head around to stare at Takashi. "Tha— That's—!"

"Uh-huh."

"Shit." _Yuji is going to be so pissed off when he figures out she's not in Port Mure._

Takashi frowned and flicked his forehead exactly the way Mamoru had in Kirigishi Village for all those years. "None of that." He leaned back on his cushion to rest his shoulders against the wall of their booth. "So, he ran away."

His father sounded so sad. Tenzou was positive that Takashi-san wasn't actually his father (Orochimaru had aimed for Senju, not Shimura, children), but for thirteen years he had been, even as he had been his squad leader. "Yes. We think he's going to Port Mure. Jiraiya-sama told him that was where she went."

"But you're not sure."

"Well, no. You did teach him not to be predictable."

Takashi ran fingers through his short hair and sighed. "I did. It was one of the few lessons he picked up right away. I know I shouldn't be proud of him, but…"

Tenzou's eyes widened. "But…!"

"Yes, I know. I'm furious at the same time. It's odd. If she remembered, I'm sure she would be laughing wickedly at how Yuji finally managed to give us the slip after stalking him without letting up for thirteen years."

As Tenzou spotted Eiko-san carrying two steaming platters out of the kitchen, laughing at whatever the chef had said, he agreed. "So, Hokage-sama made you a sensei?"

Takashi-san grimaced. "Not just yet. There's a group that should be part of the next graduating class he wants me to take on, so I've got a bit of a grace period. We'll find you an apartment in that time. I'll show you the ins and outs of lease contracts."

Even as Tenzou grinned at his father, he felt horribly guilty. By leaving Jiraiya-sama's side, Yuji had committed himself to a very lonely path. "I think it's the beast. I think they've been talking."

Takashi frowned. "Then he's in trouble. That beast probably has him convinced they're friends. A creature doesn't live that long without becoming crafty. Kitsune are always described as manipulative in the tales." He whispered the last bit after making certain no one would overhear and fell silent, likely brooding over things he couldn't say in public. He glared at his food as Eiko set it in front of him.

Tenzou smiled apologetically at her and nodded thanks as she set his own meal before him. He couldn't help but note how Eiko kept glancing at his father. So, loss of memory and an appearance change on both their parts hadn't changed that. "If the beast is lying to him, I don't know that we'll ever get him to come back."

Takashi squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in a breath through his teeth before opening them. "We'll have to believe that you and I taught him enough about guile to recognize it in the beast. And we'll have to hope that Mae taught him enough about being an individual that the beast comes to regret what he's doing. If not, then the fox has neatly gotten his revenge on us. His father left him to us for a reason; Sarutobi-sama believes that. Yuji has to come back."


	11. Chapter 11

Fuma Dana narrowed her eyes over the rim of her coffee cup at the duo in their gaudy uniforms.

Akatsuki.

It wasn't bad enough that the ninja had formed villages in every nation and become legal entities. No, as the ninja economy waned and the villages began to downsize with this relative "peace" (Dana resisted the urge to spit—she liked this shop's coffee too much), mercenary subcontractor groups of ninja had sprung up, happy to be hired by the larger villages.

Akatsuki was one of the most successful groups. They rarely operated in Fire, fortunately, but every once in a while, she would be given a manslaughter, damages, or injury case to act as the prosecutor for with one Akatsuki member or another as the accused. She was too used to gathering witness accounts about the black robes covered in red clouds to not know this duo on the spot.

These were no minor members though.

Dana had not prosecuted ninja for twenty-seven years without becoming at least somewhat able to judge their strength. These two were off the charts. The one with the wrapped monstrosity of a sword on his back made her very nervous as he ducked into the coffee shop, leaving his partner outside.

"Oi, jiisan," he called to the barista.

"Welcome! What can I do for you?"

"You know that commotion to the south a couple days ago?"

"The forest fires and gas explosions?" The barista snorted. "Pathetic cover story. None of the abandoned gas lines are in those mountains. My brother works with the teams recovering them for scrap metal. I've heard it was some monsters. The priests are wailing about the wrath of gods."

"And did you hear where the monsters went?"

"Heck if I know. Made a mess and ran off. Hopefully they won't come back. If Konoha knows what's good for them, they'll send some of their best after them rather than squabbling over the border with the Lightning bastards."

"I heard there were Konoha ninja in the city, staying at the hotel down the street. You see a dark boy with a white-haired geezer?"

Dana nibbled on her muffin. She remembered the boy with Jiraiya. Green-brown eyes. A couple snaggle teeth. Coffee skin. They had made an odd pair.

The barista shrugged. "Perhaps, but I don't recall. I don't get much of a chance to watch the traffic out the windows; we're pretty busy usually. Maybe our regulars could help you though. See the window table? That's Fuma-sama. She's a sharp woman."

Dana set her muffin aside as the blue-grey-skinned man approached. "Fuma-san, do you have a moment?"

She took a sip of her coffee as he sat down without an invitation. "Hoshigaki-san. I haven't had the misfortune of putting your subordinates in a bind for a while."

"You milk all the money you can out of us with bail and fines. Kakuzu-san would kill you if we ever let him know your name. Paying for the small fry irritates him."

"Perhaps you should instruct your people to be more careful then. I would much prefer not to have to defend Fire's citizens in the court of law. Fines hardly make up for what they suffer at your people's hands."

He laughed, his awful teeth visible. "You're gonna tell me about Jiraiya and the Katsuo boy."

"They were here. I ran into them. Jiraiya and I argued, and he ran off with the kid shortly afterwards. I never saw them again."

Hoshigaki studied her, grinning that awful grin, until he nodded and stood up. "Okay, Fuma-san. You let me know if you learn anything else and maybe I'll tell you about what's happened to the Hokage so you can whisper it to all your clan members."

She popped another piece of muffin into her mouth as the former Kiri-nin left the shop to rejoin his partner. Once he was out of sight, she rolled her eyes. Arrogant bastard. As if she and the rest of the Matsuku didn't already know about the Hokage's poisoning.

Ninja.

* * *

Hiruzen's eyelids opened with agonizing effort only to find that the light in the room was too bright to bear. Every nerve in his body was complaining, but it was nothing compared to the torment he had endured as the poison had first started working through his system. He had felt like a network of pipes with too much pressure in every inch with nowhere for it to go, all blocked up. "Was it chakra or blood?" he mused aloud. His voice startled him: it was cracked and jagged, as though his vocal cords had been sandpapered and flayed.

"A combination of the two," said a voice he hadn't heard in so long. "Your lymphatic system was the primary target though. It was an interesting twist on an older variation of Chiyo's disabling poisons. It would have killed you within forty-two hours. Considering how devious the mechanism is, I'm not actually certain you should take that to mean they didn't intend to kill you. It was probably more so they could gloat over our incompetence."

"You could never be accused of incompetence when it comes to medicine, Tsunade," he croaked.

"Well, last they knew, you and I weren't talking."

"How fortunate they misjudged that. Thank you for coming."

"Don't mistake this for anything other than me doing what a medic should. Shizune pleaded with me." Firm hands hoisted him so he was more upright on the utilitarian sheets of the hospital bed. "Sip." Cold glass was pressed to his lips.

He obeyed, sucking down chilled water thick with a mineral taste. She must have dissolved some nutrients in it.

The glass was pulled away. "You going to open your eyes?"

"Too bright."

A chair scraped across the linoleum, and the luminescence brightening the red of his eyelids dimmed. He tried opening his eyes again to find the curtains drawn and the lights off. Tsunade looked much as she had before fleeing the village, if much more well-endowed. Her age was apparent in her eyes and the lines of her face, the expression lines. Gone was the conviction that had made her so bright before. Unlike Jiraiya, there was no joviality to lend her inner youthfulness to match her exterior.

She sat back down in the chair at his bedside and crossed one leg over the other, leaning back, at ease, her forearms laid over the armrests. "So."

"Hmm?"

"How'd you get hit?"

"Layered darts through a remote summoning seal. It was in with my paperwork."

"And your guards?"

He sighed. "I'm sure you know more about that than I do."

"I've treated Boar–88 and Tiger–37, who suffered the same way you did. Snake–28 caught and maimed the agent after escaping the initial blast. The Suna ninja has been in Inoichi's hands ever since."

"And?"

"He only knows about his orders, which were to deliver the poison by any means necessary. Whatever greater plan this was part of, well, he didn't know about it. Suna has sent a messenger bird demanding his return." She paused, studying him. "Are they coming?"

He sighed. "It depends. Because they've shown that our defences can be pierced, Earth is going to take notice. What Suna does depends on how far they want to push this. If they mount an assault on us, that means their northern border will be weaker, so Earth might be tempted. On the other hand, the Tsuchikage may decide that we are the better target and attack us to the northwest. And then there's Orochimaru. Knowing him and how he's communicating with the Kazekage, well, it won't be good."

"So what are you going to do, old man?"

"We cannot afford another front opening up. Kumo is not putting much effort into their border raids right now, but with this strike, their efforts will increase. If Suna creates a western front, Kumo may march in force. Our only blessing is that the civil war in Water is still going strong, so Kiri has its hands full. We need to make Suna back down."

"Danzou's been calling for a counterstrike, a suicide mission to take down the Kazekage and the key councillors. He's been preaching about you losing your edge and that you should step aside."

"Same as always." Hiruzen pulled his blankets up higher on his chest. He could never seem to stay warm enough anymore. The weight of the position he had offered Tsunade kept the room in silence. If he broached the topic, she would not take it well. Given his condition, he ought to insist, but she was inexperienced and brash. Tsunade was not a subtle creature, which was not good for this particular situation where the possibility of starting a war they would lose without allies hung by a thread while Tsunade was a swinging sword.

They needed a needle.

"We both know that I'm no good for this, geezer," she said, surprising him.

"There are many who could advise you, temper your decisions."

She smirked. "You know that I don't take well to not getting my way."

The Shodaime had spoiled her shamelessly, it was true. He grimaced. "Nara Shikaku would be a good guide for you though."

"In war, yes. In politics?"

"Politics is simply a different battlefield. He has the mind for it. Executing his strategies is best left to real political creatures though." Suddenly, he noticed what was missing. "Your necklace—"

"Don't act so surprised: you sent Jiraiya and your pet Uchiha after it for the Kyuubi kid. Not that the kid even took it."

Hiruzen frowned. "He didn't?"

"He ran off right before we heard about the attack. I don't know all the details, but the kid bequeathed the necklace to Uchiha Itachi. That boy has balls: he actually stole it from me in the middle of a casino." She leaned forward. "What are you planning with that kid? He's an Uchiha. I haven't been back a week and this is the most poison I've ever felt directed towards a clan. Everyone is positive they're traitors. What is going on here?"

Hiruzen let his eyes fall shut and the weariness show on his face. "That will take some telling."

He could feel the anger and impatience radiating off her. "That's right. You need rest. We'll discuss it later, old man." Her heels clicked as she headed for the door. "I'll make sure you don't get any visitors."

The door closed behind her.

Hiruzen beckoned with a finger.

Dragon–1 appeared out of nowhere at his bedside and snapped a salute, his posture miserable. "Hokage-sama, please accept my apologies. Snake–28 has been sent out to redeem herself."

"No, I should have known better than to ask you to keep her in the village this week. It's too close to November. What happened with the boy?"

Dragon explained the events that had passed since the team's cover had broken in South Port. It wasn't good. That Kyuubi had been revealed to be alive, and to Nii Yugito of all people, was a catastrophe. That the entire population of the Red City had had front row seats for their battle made it impossible to suppress knowledge of. And then Naruto had left. And left the necklace to Itachi. Dragon produced the note for him to read over.

"They suspect he and Kyuubi have been speaking ever since Itachi interrogated the fox. They're attributing his actions to a combination of learning Mae-san's supposed location and Kyuubi's influence."

Hiruzen couldn't fathom it. He and the boy had had long discussions about the fox's wiles. The boy knew damn well the fox couldn't be trusted, that it had never submitted fully to Kushina, even after she had mastered its chakra somehow. How he wished Kushina and Mito-sama had shared more of their knowledge, had recorded it in written form, but the jinchuuriki women had been secretive. And to leave the necklace…

"ANBU trackers have been sent after him. So far, they report he left a multitude of scent trails. They've found shreds of his old clothing in all directions. We assume he will show up in Port Mure eventually, so all our agents there have been notified to be on the lookout for him. They are to report in when they spot him and not approach. We've advised them all to keep tabs on him once they do locate him though."

The boy had learned well from Takashi-kun then. That was reassuring. At least the hunters the other nations would surely be sending at this moment would have trouble finding the boy. Konoha had to find him first though and make sure no other village got their hands on him. Hiruzen was relieved too though, despite it all. If Kyuubi was influencing the boy, better it happened as far from Konoha as possible. Also, better that Kyuubi was out of Danzou's reach now that the cat was out of the bag. "Rat–67?"

"Ashamed that his training has been turned against us and disappointed in the boy. Tiger–19 reported the disappearance to him with my permission to see if he had any suggestions on how to counter the boy's training."

"And?"

"He claims the boy knows what he's supposed to do but that we can expect him to slip up eventually. He has no experience maintaining cover for more than a day alone. Tiger–19 also felt that Kyuubi's chakra presence was beginning to leak through the seal's purification mechanism during their last days of contact. All the chakra-sensing agents have been briefed as discretely as possible. They will put the pieces together eventually though."

"And what did Itachi have to say?"

"Kyuubi went so far as to share memories, so he promises he will be able to identify the masked man on sight or sound. His description was thorough enough to sketch out a chakra profile for a sensor, though the physical description was more vague—he was masked and cloaked. The man was an Uchiha with a very strong Sharingan, but not Madara. Kyuubi indicated that he sensed Senju Hashirama on him as well."

It sounded like Itachi hadn't had to resort to messier tactics of extracting information from the slathering beast. "That's more than we had hoped for. Did Itachi say that he had made a good impression on Kyuubi?"

"The fox's exact words were 'interesting' in the report. Itachi felt that Kyuubi was offended by how this new Uchiha had controlled him and gave that as his reason for cooperating."

"And what did he think of how the boy and the fox interacted?"

"He had some concerns about that, sir. He indicated in his report that he wished to discuss them with you directly."

Hiruzen frowned. That was ominous. "Send him in at the first available moment then. Also, call the Monkey and Hare agents to assemble and examine the current political situation in detail. We need a plan for dealing with Suna's move. Give them full access to any related intelligence reports they ask for."

"Past agents as well?"

"Let me read their initial report before we try to call in the retired agents."

Dragon–1 saluted and disappeared.

* * *

The best lies were small. The ratio of truth to lie had to be totally skewed in truth's favour.

It was the little twists in the fine print that always slipped by even the most wary. A tense change here, a missing comma there. Such little things changed the meaning of entire paragraphs.

For this reason, Itachi spoke as openly as possible about everything that had happened in the Red City. Sarutobi-sama was incredibly intelligent, so he knew he would be caught out by the old man in a lie eventually. As Hokage, Sarutobi-sama had formidable resources at his disposal. Itachi knew he had to pick his battles to save strength for the ones worth fighting.

He needed to keep one of Yuji's favours for himself. Prudence insisted it was a good idea—hoarding resources like Yuji's, and thus Kyuubi's, assistance was only common sense. And common sense also said it was madness to give everything to a man that was knowingly keeping or allowing another party to keep his entire family under suspicion in order to corner them. Itachi trusted Sarutobi Hiruzen to try to do what he thought was best for Konoha.

The problem lay in the fact that Itachi was not confident that Sarutobi-sama always knew what the best path was.

Itachi was well aware that part of this was youthful arrogance. He worked very hard to balance it out and had done much to widen his mind while working as the Hokage's unofficial assistant to better understand just how his Hokage thought.

So, Itachi knew two opinions that Sarutobi-sama held as truths: first, that Kyuubi was of evil intent, and second, that using Kyuubi was the right thing to do. These opinions stemmed from many things Itachi had struggled to classify but ultimately boiled down to a few points: the bijuu had been used this way all of Sarutobi-sama's life, Kyuubi had been used by Uchiha Madara and by association was tainted with his evil, Kyuubi had shown that he did not care about humans, and finally, the Shodaime had pioneered this system.

There were some advantages to these beliefs, one being that Sarutobi-sama didn't need to fear for his soul because according to them, Kyuubi was not a kami. Itachi shared this idea, mostly. Bijuu defied quite a few accepted physical laws, but the main one was how interchangeable their chakra and their physical selves were. It was similar to the old idea that mass and energy were proportionally related, just on a massive and visually undeniable scale. Itachi had seen how much smaller Kyuubi was now. But Kyuubi seemed to have purpose. He had spoken of being kept from his duties. What energy source, as Sarutobi-sama considered the Kyuubi, just one with evil intent, had a duty?

It terrified Itachi that the balance of power that the Shodaime had devised relied on putting creatures they didn't really understand under the control of ninja factions. It also felt like the world had been falling out of whack as the years passed with the bijuu bound to inanimate or living containers. More impossible things became possible. More terrible things were not stopped by divine justice.

Was this proof against the existence or regard of kami, or was it a sign that ninja had messed with something they should not have touched?

All Itachi knew was that he needed to keep at least one favour for himself. Just in case.

So as he laid his thoughts and plans and interpretations of Kyuubi and Yuji's interactions and motives for leaving bare, he let the passwords for the two favours Yuji had promised him slip past his lips. But the last one, no, he kept those sea shanty phrases. He let the Kyuubi's memory be the payment for his information instead, which fit nicely into his idea that Kyuubi was cooperating with Yuji.

And Sarutobi-sama didn't bat an eyelash as he wove that one omission, that one lie, in with all that truth.

And in return for all the truths, Itachi was given more words that implied that there existed a paper link between Yuji and the Hokage as Sarutobi-sama spoke of assessing the situation for himself and seeing what needed to be done to bring the foolish boy back. He didn't press for more information on it though. He wasn't in a hurry to cash in the favour that belonged to him alone.

Yet.

* * *

Uchiha Mikoto, uncomfortable in her old Monkey mask, ignored the wary stares of the other advisors in the room as she studied her copy of the assessment of the situation with Suna and the current ANBU crop's suggested solution.

A bluff.

Monkey and Hare divisions advised calling a meeting and sending a team of jounin with envoy powers to remind Suna that breaking their treaty from the Second and Third Ninja Wars was cause for retaliation. It called for various shows of force, from executing the assassin in front of Suna's delegation to Mikoto's favourite, bringing out Kyuubi.

Somebody in ANBU obviously was intent on ignoring the stain the big reveal of Kyuubi's existence put on the Yondaime's legend. That suited Mikoto just fine. No official line had touted that Kyuubi had actually been killed. The relieved masses had just been allowed to assume that was the case while Sarutobi-sama had obviously done some quick planning to guarantee the new host thirteen years of anonymity.

Kushina's child lived. Mikoto allowed a bitter smile to curl her lips as she remembered the last conversation she had had with her friend.

How dearly that short talk of sons had cost the Uchiha.

But where was the boy? None of her contacts in Konoha had said anything about a boy returning with Tsunade, Itachi, and Jiraiya other than the same ANBU agent, a Tiger, that had departed with Itachi. Her son knew, but he wasn't talking.

"Have you all had time to review the proposal?" asked a Dragon agent.

Former ANBU laid their papers down as they finished. Mikoto kept flipping, looking over each word and reading between the lines.

"Monkey–17, are you planning on finishing your fifth reading soon?"

Mikoto slowly looked up to meet the Dragon's eyes. "Yes. And then I plan on beginning a sixth to ensure that I fully grasp exactly how the proposed meeting locations rate in terms of the effect they will have upon the watchers that Kumo and Iwa will definitely have in place. I have already deduced that using one of River's ninja bases is a poor plan. Using any River Country territory is not bold enough if we want this bluff to work."

Mikoto and the Dragon-masked agent held each other's gaze for a good five seconds more before they both looked away at the same time. The man behind the Dragon mask was obviously fairly young if he thought that he could get away with using Dragon–1's arrogance just because she was a retired Uchiha ANBU agent. Dragon–76, if she remembered correctly. She wondered if the boy had been out of headquarters in months. Probably not if he had let his belonging to the administrative division go to his head.

Pfft, Dragons. Fatheads, every one. Just because they got to stamp things with official seals and censor documents until only useless words were visible, they thought arrogance was their due.

She finished her sixth reading and nodded slowly as she set her papers down on the table.

"Well? Since you have studied with such intensity, perhaps you have further insight, Monkey–17?" asked Dragon–76.

"I do. The meeting should be held outside Suna's walls. Tsunade-sama should lead the expedition in her capacity as the Hokage's heir apparent, and her entourage should include chuunin and jounin. No masked ANBU should go. If this is to be a bluff, let us show that our regular troops are more than enough to handle whatever the full might of Suna might throw at us. Let us toss their assassin at their feet in one piece. I'm sure Tsunade-sama can come up with a particularly degrading way of executing it with the right touch of scorn implied. And let us tell them that if they truly wish to pick a fight, let it be settled as was intended: with a show of force between our respective jinchuuriki."

The chime of a pin hitting the stone floor of the meeting chamber would have been a cacophony.

Mikoto contained her smirk, though her porcelain mask would have hidden it. "Gaara, the Kazekage's son, holds Ichibi. According to this report, he is ruthless and feared by Suna, as is typical. It was said that Ichibi never challenged Kyuubi when the bijuu were free. He lost to Nibi, who in turn lost to Kyuubi. It should be no contest. With a single battle, we could humiliate the jinchuuriki they are terrified of in front of Suna's entire population, cowing them."

Another retired agent in a Hare mask chuckled. "I like it, but it means we'll have to change our attitude towards the battle with Kumo. Our arrogance is going to ring false if we exhibit bravado on the western front while simply holding Kumo off to the northeast."

"We've been holding a line in pointless skirmishes for far too long now," Mikoto insisted. "If we can build enough political momentum, we can establish a ceasefire on all fronts. It just needs to be played right." Having said most of her piece, she fell silent and let the discussion drag other bystanders in. She needed to wait for the right moment.

"Who should be with Tsunade-sama then?"

Suggestions of agents with strong village personas and whose membership of ANBU had so far been kept secret were put forth, but Mikoto knew that the actual agents selected wouldn't be ones that even retired members knew about.

"I nominate Uchiha Itachi in his capacity as a regular jounin."

Conversation paused following her comment. Many sets of eyeholes in white masks painted black, red, green, and sometimes blue stared at her.

"Very well," said Sarutobi-sama, the first words he had spoken at this meeting.

Mikoto leaned back, satisfied.

* * *

Yuji stood on the top of a mountain. He had no fucking idea what the heck it was named, only that it was part of a chain of mountains called the Bony Spine Range that defined the border between Fire and River.

It was also awesome because it had a killer cliff.

Yuji had always gone along with his ninja training because the mobility it offered was wicked cool, the most fun he could have on land. When they had had those awesome don't-get-cornered-by-Dad-and-Seiichi exercises, they had roamed all over the mountains around Kirigishi Village. There were a couple chasms that mountain streams had carved over the ages that Yuji had loved diving down and then bouncing from one face to the other to shed momentum as he neared the bottom.

Shooting from side to side on the way up had been just as awesome.

Cliff jumping was his favourite. _You ready?_

**_We are not meant to fly! We don't have wings for a reason, you crazy excuse for a mammal!_ **

_Come on, this is going to be so awesome!_

**_And just as awesome while I'm knitting your broken legs back together?_ **

_I just need to run fast enough at the end!_ Yuji threw himself off the cliff, howling with exhilaration as he spread his arms wide as gravity did its work. One hundred metres, one thousand metres, twenty-five hundred metres!

He screamed past jagged protruding rocks as the vertical face began to angle slightly. Yuji began running in the empty air as the gap between his feet and the cliff face closed, the cliff sloping out to meet him. He squinted against the force of air, having hit terminal velocity a while back. _Ready?_

**_You are insane._ **

"Woo!" Yuji's right foot touched the cliff, and he pushed off carefully in that split second of contact, moving his fall path out with the slope with every brush of his feet against the stone. He had to be so careful, sticking himself to the surface with chakra just right, so that his running didn't end up flipping him over in the air and instead kept pushing him outwards just enough to connect on the next stride.

An outcropping jutted out a good twenty metres suddenly ahead. It had seemed so small from the peak, but now it was large enough to paint himself as a bloody stain on. Yuji gave a mighty push, unconsciously calculating how much chakra and muscle force he needed to push himself clear of the rock face.

He didn't want to go too far from the mountain. Even he wasn't sure that he would survive if he pushed himself too far out and couldn't shed momentum by running at the end and instead just landed with a smack. He was positive there would be lots of blood and bone fragments though. And plenty of Kurama's complaining. The fox did not seem to enjoy free fall the way Yuji did. Maybe it was because the fox had been so big that it had never really experienced the sensation to this extent before.

They were hitting the tree line. Above a certain point on this particular mountain, the terrain was simply too steep to support more than lichen and tough grasses. Now the slope's grade was less than eighty degrees, so trees could get to a respectable size. This was where the real challenge began: manoeuvring around the spearlike trunks while maintaining free fall. It would get even more interesting when the slope's grade hit about fifty degrees and the tree trunks were instead mostly parallel to him: he would have to weave around the trunks more since he would no longer be running down their length but past them, just like normal, if at a much greater speed.

At the moment, he sidestepped carefully and ran/fell alongside the trunk of a pine just past the radius the branches protruded to and skipped off the small outcropping that it was perched on. Feeling brave, he did a barrel roll/flip from one side of the next tree over its trunk to the other side, the slope extending out to meet him on the other side.

Sixty-eight degree grade.

Yuji dared a series of forward flips down the slope since the rock looked pretty smooth for the next hundred metres—he had to be careful of his hands. Dad had walloped him so many times for daring to so much as jam a knuckle with his stunts: "You need fingers to form handseals and throw kunai and shuriken! Always protect your hands!" Yuji had never forgotten.

Fifty-three degree grade.

The trunks were almost perpendicular to his path now, so Yuji could only skip between their thick trunks, shedding momentum with every sideways movement.

Forty degree grade.

The rush was over now. Free fall no longer held him; he was transitioning to running instead. Tree trunks were more numerous now, as were boulders, so at least he could still feel the adrenaline caused by the obstacle course as he zipped down towards the foothills and the river weaving between the feet of the mountains.

_That was awesome!_

**_And this isn't ridiculous enough to challenge you? What do waves hold that running down a mountain doesn't satisfy?_ **

_Kurama, dude, have you_ seen _some of the storms in the Kinuzu Sea? I've only seen where they throw logs and watched the rain and surf through the window. Can you imagine how huge the waves must be way out there? There's no running, just you and your ship._

**_And if you choose the wrong path, all the mountainous waves fall on you._ **

_Exactly. Now you've got it._ Yuji sped over the grassy foothills, losing speed as he approached the river. If he remembered right, this small river fed Sliver Lake, which emptied into the Blue Trail River, which hit the Kinuzu Sea a ways east of Fools Port. Slowing to a trot as he panted, Yuji followed the riverbank. _We've made pretty good time considering how far we had to swing wide of Konoha's watchtowers and patrols. I thought the war was going on up in the northeast. What's with all this activity along the western border?_

**_Fool, there are five major nations. Fire has borders exposed to each of them. If there is fighting on one, it is common sense to defend your back against the enemy behind you that might see your preoccupation as the perfect moment to strike._ **

_So Suna's probably made a move or is about to make one?_

**_Or this is posturing to warn them off._ **

_Jiraiya said that chuunin were supposed to be watching this border, but the chakra presence of that one patrol felt way too big to belong to just four chuunin. Things must be heating up._ He felt guilty for a moment and then afraid; his brother and dad were back in Konoha. They would probably be ordered to go fight. _It's all so dumb, like Jiraiya said._

**_Humans have always been disgusting and petty. You are the only species on this planet that is constantly at war and escalates the fights to thousands of participants, your healthiest members, weakening your species. It is an effective means of population control._ **

_What would happen if we were at peace? Would houses just cover every mountain?_ Yuji didn't like the thought. The Red City was already too populated for his taste.

**_There would be plagues. And if those were held off by your medicines, then inevitably a war would be sparked._ **

_And if we don't go to war? If we just stay at peace, having more and more children?_

Kurama growled. **_Starvation is more likely, as I have seen in the past. But if you somehow miraculously stave that off, then other forces step in._**

_Forces like you, right?_

**_If it falls within my scope._ **

_And what is your scope?_

**_Hatred._ **

Yuji's eyes narrowed. Hatred, huh? That jibed with a couple stories he had heard. The villages Kyuubi had razed when free had invariably been mostly awful places if you looked a little deeper behind the glossy sheen their tragic ends had given them. Crime had been rampant. In fact, one old legend Yuji had heard being preached by a monk passing through their village on his way to a hermitage west of Kirigishi had painted Kyuubi as a purifying force, one that erased evil. That had been the only time Yuji had heard the fox being spoken of in a remotely positive way, and it had stuck with him simply because it contrasted so sharply with all the terrible things the Hokage had been telling him about Kyuubi through Seiichi's journal at the time.

Yuji came to a stop and crouched down to splash water on his face and slurp some of the cool liquid from his cupped hands. He had been taught not to drink river water without sterilizing it first, but Yuji just didn't really get sick. He'd watched the flu and colds go through his family numerous times, but he had never gotten infected for more than a day. Kyuubi seemed to feel having his host suffering a running nose or puking up his guts was beneath his dignity.

He pulled Kumiko's carpet bag off his back after dealing with the rope he had used to tie it there and pulled out a strip of beef jerky to chew on before resuming his trek. _Got another memory about the Six Paths Sage?_

**_You realize that he was born before me. I collected these stories after he died._ **

_How? I can't imagine you as a tiny kit._

**_I can't imagine you being more pathetically weak than you are now, and yet I witnessed your birth. Human babies can be killed just by being lifted the wrong way. You are incapable of moving on your own._ **

_Tangent alert! Back to the point: did you interview people to learn these stories?_

**_Some came from people who had known the Sage. There are other animals that collects stories though. Dragons. Toads. Apes. Spirits._ **

_Huh, cool. So, a story?_

Kurama sighed, but Yuji was sure by now that the sigh was mostly because the fox was a drama queen at heart. He liked to pretend to be all annoyed to be made to tell the stories he had so lovingly collected. Yuji was also sure "lovingly" was the right word; Kurama genuinely respected the Sage—it was almost like Kurama was a kid bragging about his dad.

It made Yuji grin: it was yet another thing that made him and Kurama not so different. The fox dramatically recited the Sage's discovery of some amazing treasure trove of secrets hidden in some far off monastery as Yuji's thoughts drifted to a less comfortable topic. Kurama had admitted that he was the one that had actually killed his blood parents. At the time, Yuji had swallowed the knowledge because it had been a little more aggravating to suddenly have proof that he was being lied to by the ninja. Now that he was away from the ninja though…

He knew why Kurama had done it: that had been pretty easy to piece together. His parents had decided to seal the fox in him, and Kurama had not wanted to be trapped inside a human again, reduced to a power source, a slave. It kind of made his parents seem like total assholes.

But Yuji didn't like the idea. Jiraiya had told him stories about his father, and he had heard plenty of stories about Kushina from Genie-san. They hadn't seemed evil. So they must have had reasons, ones that probably involved their village since fanatical devotion eclipsing familial loyalty seemed to be a trend in all the Konoha ninja he had met so far.

**_Are you even listening?_ **

_Oh, yeah. You were telling me about how the monks had this huge spiral staircase going down into this crack in the earth._

**_That was a while back. Why ask for a tale if you're not even going to do me the courtesy of listening?_ **

_Sorry. I'm trying to understand things. I understand why you killed them, but—_

**_Them?_** Kurama paused for a while, working out what Yuji was referring to. **_I wasn't trying to kill them. I was trying to kill you before they could seal me in you. They were still strong enough to defend themselves. You were not, so you were the easier target._**

Yuji stopped walking and just breathed, blocking out everything, even the chuckle of the river. _Oh._

**_Oh?_ **

_I'm trying not to be pissed off or horrified. Give me a minute._ Kyuubi was mercifully silent as Yuji clenched his jaw and breathed in and out through his nose. He wasn't actually all that upset; he just felt that he ought to be. It was kind of like the stories his mom had told him about how he had nearly made her drop him on his head with all his squirming when he'd been a baby or how Seiichi had almost not managed to catch him when he'd tried rolling headfirst down the stairs as a toddler. It had happened so long ago that there wasn't really any emotional response to the close call. _Okay. Let me guess: they sacrificed themselves to protect me._

**_Yes._ **

_Huh._ Yuji had been told many times, especially by Jiraiya in various ways, that his blood parents had loved him and deserved more of his regard. That they had put themselves between an attack meant for him from the fox, well, it made him feel very guilty. _Anything else?_

**_You are being very… calm._** Kurama sounded puzzled.

He sighed. _They've been dead for so long. I only know them through stories. Maybe if I actually met them, they'd be totally different from who I think they are. You had your reasons. I get it. It's probably horrible, but I know you, so I understand you. I don't get them. They probably did it for the village. But I don't care about the village, so I don't understand. I actually had a hard time not being mad at them when I learned about you for the first time. I mean, how could they do that to me?_

_Nobody would let me be mad at them though. I kept hearing stories about them from Dad, Niichan, and Jiraiya. Dad was totally loyal to my father; he thought the Yondaime was so wise even if sometimes Dad hinted that the Yondaime could be a bit of a goof. And he thought my mother was really strong, even if he didn't really understand her. Niichan said my father was always nice to him. And Jiraiya, geez._

**_I am not sorry._ **

_I figured._ Yuji snapped his eyes open and started running at a good clip again. He let the silence persist for a while, just focusing on keeping his breathing even. When at last Sliver Lake's narrow span appeared ahead, he pulled chakra away from the seal again. _You gonna finish that story? I'll pay more attention this time._

**_Alright. The stairs twisted down into the maw…_ **


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 ryou = approx. 10 cents

The first messenger hawk bound to Suna with a note demanding an explanation strapped in a case on its leg never returned.

Scouts sent to observe the village from their stations in Wind Country reported that the hawk had winged its way over the stepped wall surrounding the village, so it was definitely a sign of disrespect. Spies in the village could only confirm that the council had met and that no hawk had gone eastward.

Sarutobi gritted his teeth and ordered another hawk out. The message this time was more foreboding, the tone much more threatening, and the agent Suna had sent was mentioned. Several of his advisors had cringed when proofreading it. Koharu had thinned her lips but hadn't commented. Danzou had still scowled though, so Hiruzen supposed that the tone was still civil enough not to immediately spark conflict.

Again, his agents again reported the hawk's arrival and the council meeting.

A damnable waste of time, but sending in the note in the hands of observing agents would not only probably lead to their deaths, it also just wasn't done. It wasn't polite to expose how closely the villages watched each other to the light of day.

Finally, his men reported a hawk winging its way east.

Two days after that, the message arrived on his doorstep after he had gone for the night in the hands of the people in charge of the aviary. The reply had gone through stringent checks, searching for contact poisons, cleverly concealed seals, and anything else his people could think of.

It had come out mostly clean. A light dusting of arsenic was easily brushed away.

_Suna has nothing to say to a nation with a Kage so weak as to faint when pricked by a needle._

Hiruzen rolled his eyes as his councillors decried Suna for their insult. The note that went back was stiffly polite and allowed no quarter. Hiruzen made certain that Suna scouts spotted and reported on three convoys of his ninja and supplies moving to the outposts along the borders with Rain and River. The Kazekage needed to believe Hiruzen was being serious.

The next message to arrive from the Sand was more polite. The tone was still dismissive, but at least the idea of allowing a meeting between representatives had appeared in the reply, even if River had been offered for the location.

Hiruzen pressed back, watching the days trickle by as Intel reported rumblings on the boarder with Grass and further away in Earth while Kumo's people along the northeastern boarder grew.

He would have his meeting.

* * *

**_You're going to get caught._ **

_Only if I'm clumsy. Pretty women are supposed to be graceful._ Yuji flipped his long black braid back over his shoulder as he swayed along the boardwalk along one of Fools Port's harbourside streets, appearing as a woman in her early thirties. Two blocks down, the tall masts peaked over the buildings, flags flapping. At his side, a bunshin beneath the henge of an elderly man—obviously his character's aging father—followed along, careful to avoid touching anything and to stay in his shadow to obscure the fact that it didn't have one.

While Seiichi-nii had been able to produce wooden clones and Dad had very rarely pulled out a water clone, Yuji had been left with basic bunshin. Dad had told him that elemental training was best left until later. Later had obviously meant with Jiraiya, but, well, Yuji had kind of thrown a wrench in that plan. He wasn't great at Bunshin no Jutsu, but because he was maintaining a henge on the bunshin (since basic bunshin were just illusions and incapable of doing anything with chakra), the bagginess and sallowness of its original appearance was covered up.

Yuji was very good at Henge no Jutsu by now.

For the past hour, he had been trying to find a ship headed to Port Mure. That task wasn't hard: most large cargo vessels were either headed there or to South Port since they were the biggest trading ports on the Kinuzu Sea aside from Fools Port. The challenge lay in finding a vessel with a crew willing to take on an elderly man willing to work for his passage. He had considered going in as a middle-aged man or a teen, but that had two problems: he still wasn't good at adult men, and a man would be expected to do chores on the ship and be exposed to the crew in ways that Yuji would rather avoid. Sailors could be pretty crass. Being a teenaged boy wasn't great either, but going as a girl or a woman wasn't an option. If someone tried to rape his character, well, that wouldn't end well.

An old man was fairly safe in that his age got him some respect, he was expected to be slow with his chores, and an older man could plausibly be shorter, which helped linking up the henge's movements and reactions.

The daughter character was a ploy to get a better response from the crews.

His clone followed until the press at the docks became too tight for safety, so the clone broke off and found some crates to sit on as Yuji continued on, charming information out of dockworkers.

"You might try the _Sand Dollar_ , ma'am," said one burly dockworker manning a winch while his coworkers unhooked the last large crate from it. "They're taking on cargo right now, lumber and bricks, and heading off to Mure in the morning. If your father is handy with a needle or any good at washing, he'll probably be able to work off his passage. The hands on that ship are a shabby bunch, but they don't stop anywhere long enough to get mending done properly—their captain's a slave driver."

Miri-san, as Yuji had dubbed his role, smiled her thanks before heading off to inquire at the ship. Two hours later, it was obvious that this was going to be his best bet unless he wanted to wait a week. But they wanted partial payment for passage. Almost two thousand ryou.

That was a bigger lump than Yuji had on him in cash. Actually, he had never really had much money. Mom had had accounts in South Port, as had Dad, but while Seiichi had been given access to Dad's account early on, Yuji had always gotten his spending money from his dad. Mom had talked about making an account for him once, but Dad had dismissed the idea as irrelevant. And Yuji supposed it would have been if he had stayed with Jiraiya and Konoha. His blood parents had probably left him all of their money.

Two thousand ryou… Yuji had been trained to steal. He didn't like it, but Dad had taught him that sometimes when on the run, that was the best plan since carrying anything made you slower. So Yuji collected his bunshin, retreated a ways into the city before discarding the bunshin and his henge, and set to work. He slipped in and out of various shops, never stealing more than fifty ryou at each for the sake of his own conscience. It was slow work, but he went as quickly as he could since he had to hit forty places before six, the time he had promised to close the deal with the _Sand Dollar_ 's captain.

With the wad of ryou notes in his pocket, he resumed his dual disguises, though he played the old man this time while his bunshin played Miri-san, and went back to play out a farewell before handing his wad of notes over to the captain and making his way up the gangplank. He was passed along to one of the deck hands, a man that looked to have the same ethnic background as his mom called Quincy, who showed him where he could bunk and started introducing him to the other seamen, who gladly handed over their mending.

Dad, not Mom, had taught him how to sew. Yuji knew from Tori, whom he missed with a dull ache, that this wasn't normal—moms were supposed to be the ones who sewed. But Mom could barely thread a needle. Dad was an expert at kinds of stitching patterns that weren't even normally used. So while the pile of torn and ragged garments was daunting, it wasn't an impossible task.

Keeping his henge and genjutsu going all night, on the other hand, was going to be. _I wish you could help._

**_I can make out some of the patterns in the seal that helped you maintain your Katsuo disguise, but maintaining illusions is not a sealing topic I am familiar with, so crafting a seal for this new disguise is beyond us._ **

_Can you at least help me keep the chakra stable in unconsciousness?_

**_For a time. But as you fall deeper into your sleep pattern, your ability to hold the chakra away from the seal disappears, and I am cut off again._ **

_So I'm stuck with catnaps until I figure out how to keep the jutsu going in my sleep. Oh well. At least I don't have to be a total insomniac._

**_I'll wake you before you block me out._ **

Grimacing, Yuji settled into a doze. As much as he loved ships, if crossing Wind's desert hadn't been so daunting, he would have done it. Unfortunately, the dunes were the perfect place for Konoha to spot him. At least among people, he could hide.

* * *

While South Port was a riot of sights and smells, it was nothing compared to Port Mure. This place was a mess of humanity clinging to the life the River Mu's six arms provided in the midst of the barren desert. The slums were more desperate places, some of their buildings only made of cloth draped in alleyways framed by mud and straw bricks, and the wealthy lived in glass, marble, and metal towers around thirty stories tall of the type Jiraiya had steered clear of in the Red City. It was a riot of exotic smells and foreign languages, and Yuji spotted people even stranger looking than the ones with red or yellow hair and purple or green eyes that Genie-san had promised existed so long ago.

He only let himself gawk for five minutes every time he hit a new section of the city. He had to be careful. Konoha had to have people here that would actually be expecting him (he had hoped they wouldn't be in Fools Port), which was why he was keeping a tight lid on Kurama's seal. He was terrified that a chakra sensor would be able to pick the fox's presence right out of his gut. The fox hadn't been pleased, but he understood the necessity. Yuji missed having Kurama's voice in his head.

Since leaving the _Sand Dollar_ , he had abandoned all chakra use. Instead, he was swaddled in the same heavy robes the locals wore in the drab sand colours while staring enviously at the bright silks and colours the wealthier visitors and upper class locals stuck to. He'd also swiped some foundation, concealer, and powder from a corner store to cover up the whisker lines his real face was unfortunately marked with; Dad and Mom had both taught him how to use makeup, oddly. He had learned from Mom about women's makeup (which helped his female henge) and from Dad about using makeup for alterations and hiding when Henge no Jutsu wasn't safe.

His first mission was to find somewhere to sleep for a few hours. He was exhausted, even with all his catnaps on the ship. He eventually located a shady spot under the overhang of a secondary roof on a warehouse in the industrial district and curled up on the clay roof tiles to nap. The heat of the day and the sweat plastering his robes to his skin kept him up for a while, but sleep was a spoiled thing: it didn't like being ignored for so long.

When he woke, he felt very groggy and as though he could have fallen right back under, but he didn't have that kind of time. He worked his way over to the first of the many pleasure districts he had heard about while searching out a good place to sleep and began casing the place. Brothels, teahouses, and strip clubs stood side by side. Women and some men walked about, approaching potential clients. Knowing that streetwalkers needed every moment to find clients and keep safe, Yuji decided to try a brothel first. He slipped in beside a richly dressed older man with quite a waddle to his stride to match his girth. Yuji had picked this man because he seemed to be new to the area if the way he glanced around was any indication. Picking a regular to attach himself to would have been a dead giveaway. Dancing attendance upon the large man without ever having his cover turn to look at him, Yuji gave off the impression that he was a servant of some sort, something he had seen a lot of during his wandering earlier.

Entering a brothel alone as a young boy would only get him thrown out. Entering with a client would allow him to remain, tolerated.

Somehow—he suspected it was his cheerful grin and his blue eyes, which he wasn't hiding for the first time ever—he managed to gain admission to a side room the working girls retreated to to fix makeup or take a breather. This time, Yuji didn't just let them chatter at him.

"My master was at a party with a geisha last week. The host hired a woman to talk and smile and pour tea. Are there a lot of them?" he asked.

An older whore swatted his head. "She does far more than that, boy. She's an entertainer and a master at keeping conversation flowing. A good geisha can keep a party full of bitter rivals civil."

"Not the flashy ones though," said another. "They're in training. The ones in subdued clothes are the ones to watch. We have one geisha house in our district, old Seeta and her apprentice. The rest of them are mostly further upriver."

"Do they always have to start as apprentices here? Are there any new ones from far away?" he said.

"Mmm, well, I haven't heard of any new ones setting up shop…"

"I have, but that was six months ago. Hanako."

Too long ago. Well, Yuji hadn't expected to get lucky right off the bat. He kept the conversation going until the man he had come in with retreated upstairs with a girl, and then he slipped off to try the next place.

All night long, he combed the districts, making friends with the local whores, charming information about the geisha out of them. He couldn't imagine Mom being anything else, but he did make halfhearted attempts to ask about other curly-haired women new to the city. Mom would be wearing her own face since Dad or another ninja wasn't around to keep a henge going on her or to fuel a seal maintaining a henge either. He had never seen Mom's real face that he could recall, but he knew his dad's disguise style, so the details of his mom's features would be similar, just morphed enough to make her look different.

By morning, he had nothing. He hadn't been caught by Konoha ninja, which was an accomplishment, though. He had also learned of a monastery in the mountains the River Mu came from to the northwest. After he finished sleeping most of the middle of the day away, he resumed his search and dug up more information on the monastery.

While he was still empty-handed on his mom's location by nightfall, he had learned that Wind Temple monks did sealing, as Itachi had said. That they weren't on great terms with Suna and had a strict isolation policy was a bonus.

* * *

**"It's been four days."** Kurama paced the length of his cage behind the barred gate. **"You have found nothing. She must not be here."**

"There are hundreds of thousands of people in this city," Yuji argued. "Or she could still be here or on her way here."

**"And if she comes, what then? We are still bound, so you cannot stay with her. We should go to the monks."**

Yuji grimaced. "I'll have to begin my search all over again once we come back, and who knows when that will be. What if she comes and then leaves for somewhere else?"

**"The whores like you. Maybe they will keep an eye out if you ask them nicely."**

He cocked an eyebrow at the fox. "You know, that's actually a good idea."

Kurama bared his teeth. **"Don't sound so surprised, pipsqueak."**

"Fine, fine. I'll see what I can set up with in the seven main districts. We'll head out in two days." Yuji opened his eyes back on the real world to find dusk setting in. Dusting off his robe, he headed off to nick some fruit and bread for supper. When he arrived at the first brothel, he slipped in on the heels of a regular and immediately made his way to the break room, greeting those there he recognized by name with a sunny grin.

"Aw, you're back! Where's your master today?" asked Isla.

Yuji shrugged. "I'm a runner for a lot of people. I'm pretty good at it, you see."

"Huh, I thought it was odd when I heard from one of my friends up the river that she met you on the heels of another john yesterday night."

"I always try to get jobs in as many districts as I can. I'm trying to find my auntie."

"Ah, so that's why you were asking about curly-haired women. Is she a geisha?"

"So my mother told me before she…" He grimaced and cleared his throat. "I need to find her, but I need to return to the farm. There's so many chores to do, but I'm going to come back whenever I can. Can you…? Would it be too much trouble…?"

"You want us to keep an ear and an eye open?" asked Isla kindly.

"If you could? I'll pay you with the tips I get from running messages while I'm here." He made certain every word was ernest.

Isla ruffled his hair. "If it means so much to you, sure, we'll keep a look out for you. Are you going to go ask the girls in the other districts too?"

He nodded.

"What's her name?"

He grimaced. "Mother said she was always changing it and that she didn't answer to her birth name anymore. That's why I've been having so much trouble. Her birth name is Mae. Mother said she hated it so much that she pretended she never knew it the moment she got her first geisha name. She's thirty this year, if that helps."

"We'll do what we can then. Go on. You've got a lot of running to do if you want to ask all the other girls. Watch out for Estrellia at Yellow Silks; she's always got issues with boys like you. Go to Devika instead."

"Thanks!"

* * *

Hiruzen regarded Tsunade steadily across the hardwood desk that dominated his office in the Sarutobi manse. "You will go."

Her eyes narrowed. "I will, but not because you're pretending to order me, old man. You've screwed up since I left. It was bad enough we fought that Second World War, but the Third one? I can't believe you let us get caught up in that one and sent six-year-olds to fight and die. My grandfather created Konoha so that would never happen again. I'm not going to let you fuck this war with Kumo up and do a hat trick by getting Konoha into a Fourth Shinobi War."

* * *

As the smoke from the last sealing dissipated out his open window, Itachi stuffed the scroll in one of the pockets of his flak vest before heading into the kitchen to see if his mother needed any help with supper.

"You can wash the rice and get it going," she said absently as she diced tofu neatly. "Are you all packed?"

"Yes. Tsunade-sama's desire to not arrive travel-worn and exhausted by travelling leisurely means there is more to carry in rations." He stayed silent while the hiss of the water from the tap filled the room. He raked the rice until the water was milky, drained the water, and refilled the basin only to repeat the process until the water stayed clear. A waste of water that just made it that much more obvious how his clan viewed themselves: wealthy and powerful. Water in Konoha was not at a premium the way it had to be in Suna, but still… When he moved out, he'd save it for something. Maybe watering plants? After he let the water dribble from the sieve and set the rice to sit, he said, "Why Kyuubi? Sarutobi-sama was suspicious, more so than I have ever seen him."

"To make him include you. If he called in the favour the boy promised you, it would look more legitimate if you were with the delegation."

He should have known she would eventually ferret that information out without his help. "And what is it you're hoping I'll do?"

She smiled slightly. "What you're best at: what you think needs to be done. And in doing so, you make Tsunade-sama look better."

"Which makes her more favourable towards me despite my theft." He was still dodging Shizune's attempts to retrieve the necklace whenever he wasn't out of the village on a mission. Tsunade would likely make her own attempts on the journey. He would have to be careful.

"Good. It also means you'll be a logical choice to include in the next delegation now that we have to be proactive about ending the war with Kumo."

"I'm not a diplomat, Mother."

"You're not," she agreed. "But you love the idea of peace more than anyone else."

* * *

Yuji was deep in the Fence Mountains, the range that dominated south-central Wind Country. They were the craggiest, most jagged mountains he had ever seen the further into the range he got. The ones on the outer edges of the range must have been worn down by sandstorms. Here, he found the first wild greenery he had seen in Wind Country—Port Mure had gardens, but they were cultivated. The mountains were tall enough to keep snowy caps through much of the year despite how far south they were. The narrow river valleys closer to Port Mure had been carved into stepped layers that supported farms. That was good; Yuji had wondered whether Wind was entirely dependent on imported foodstuffs.

If Wind did get into a war with Fire, he had been concerned about food riots and his mom getting caught up in them when she arrived in the port city. Fire had some of the richest farmland in the central and more northern regions and would definitely cut off trade with Wind if a war started. A lot of the ships he had seen in Port Mure's harbour had been carrying basic foodstuffs: sacs of rice, wheat, and other grains, bins of fruits and vegetables, and even corrals of livestock on smellier ships. Most of those ships had come from Fire, though some were from Tea and River.

If it came to war, the residents of Port Mure were not going to be happy with Suna, but they would probably not totally starve.

**_It is a sad world where most of you humans are incapable of hunting down your own dinners. If you cannot live off the land you roam, you should not call that land home._ **

_Trade kind of changes that a bit, or so I've been taught. Dad wanted me to know all the major shipping lanes in case I needed to stow away when on the run._

**_That man is paranoid._ **

_Meh, Dad's a ninja._

**_Ninja are usually overconfident, only caring about the ninja landscape. He was careful, but to an irritating degree._ **

_You're just saying that because you're stuck with my memories of looking over all those maps._

Yuji brushed off some dried spruce needles as he checked the ground beneath the tree he had slept in and, grabbing his pack, which had replaced Kumiko's carpetbag in Fools Port, dropped to the ground. While nibbling on some dried dates, he pulled out the journal, which he faithfully checked once a day to keep his promise to Itachi. He hadn't explicitly broken his word yet—he had told Jiraiya he would seek out his mom the moment they got that damn necklace—but that he had abandoned the ninja that had raised him weighed on him, despite how they had been dragging him around according to their whims. He hated lying.

He flipped to the first empty page and wrote the key carefully with a brush. Most mornings, nothing would appear, he would write the closing tag, and that would be that. This morning, ink blossomed on the page.

_Yuji,_

_One for Sorrow_

_I need you to come to Suna. I'll be in the Konoha delegation arriving there in four days. You must be there by November eighth at the latest—the meeting shall be on the ninth. I may need you to engage the Ichibi jinchuuriki; I will let you know as events unfold. His name is Gaara. He is the son on the Yondaime Kazekage. You probably have already been told this, but Ichibi is a wind-type bijuu while Gaara is said to specialize in sand manipulation. He uses it for both offence, by covering and crushing victims or by blasting them with smaller balls, and defence, by creating layers of shields with it._

_With Kurama's help, you should be able to escape from the Konoha delegation when your job is done._

_Delegations members include Tsunade-sama, who will officially be in charge, and a number of chuunin and jounin you do not know._

_If you are concerned, Jiraiya-sama has other work that keeps him occupied. The two agents you mentioned are well. Rat–67 has a team of new students and has temporarily retired from ANBU to resume his village persona. Tiger–19 has an apartment and is hard at work._

_Four for a boy._

Yuji studied the note with narrowed eyes. "What do you make of it?" He had gotten in the habit of talking to the air out here in the mountains just to fill the silence.

**_Ichibi… Heh._ **

Yuji's lips twitched into a grin. Kurama was so arrogant. "I meant, do you think this is really Itachi? He mentioned stuff only he should know."

**_Will you not respond?_ **

"No, I'll go since you're dying to kick Ichibi's ass so much I can feel it like ants in my pants, but it could be a trap from the Hokage. Itachi… I couldn't tell if he was loyal or not. He knew we were gonna go, I'm positive, and he didn't try to stop us."

**_Uchiha usually have their own agenda._ **

"Like you can talk, Mr Irons-in-the-Fire."

**_Do we care if he's loyal?_ **

Yuji frowned. "I'm not sure. He wants to be Hokage; that's why he wanted the necklace. I guess, in the end, so long as he's not going to start a big war and end up slaughtering everyone, he's an okay guy. I want him to keep my dad and brother safe."

**_Are we going or not?_ **

_Geez, one track mind! Yes, we're going. Think we have time to scope out the monastery?_ He wiped the message from the journal with the closing tag and penned his response before wiping it as well. The journal went back in his bag with the rest of the dates and bread. _I want some meat. And we need more supplies before we hit the desert. I wasn't planning for a trip across the dunes. We'll need a fair bit of water._

**_You're a ninja. The trek should take two days if you push._ **

_Not a ninja. Just trained to use chakra. I could be a monk._

**_My mistake. You have similar thought patterns to Mito and Kushina._ **

Yuji knew better than to take the bait. Kurama would rarely mention Yuji's predecessors, and he could always feel the fox's anger and resentment burn in his stomach. Kurama had only shared that memory with Itachi. The temptation to ask the fox exactly what had happened was strong though. The bijuu, having lived in two important women, probably had witnessed so much history and ninja bullshit that the rest of Fire's poor citizens would never know about.

"If it'll only take two days, that means we've got two to kill before we head for Suna, since there's nowhere to camp there except in Suna. I want a warmer coat. Desert nights are supposed to be freezing."

**_Camping in Suna would be stupid. I would rather not be forced to serve the same village as Shukaku._ **

_Is that his name? What's he like?_

**_An oaf. I would say that he is similar to the woman you call mother, but he is much worse. He prefers the loud, screechy music._ **

_Heavy metal? He's been around heavy metal before?_

**_Before the collapse._ **

_The collapse?_

**_Of human society. You are slowly rediscovering what you lost, though the culture persists despite the fall of your technology._ **

_What happened?_

**_What always happens: war, plague, and famine._ **


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay. My excuse is the usual: work. I was also a bit stumped with this chapter. I wanted it to be more than "alright" because that was the feeling I was getting from it when I went back through to do final edits. Hopefully the slight alterations have accomplished my goal, but I guess that's for only me to know.
> 
> Don't worry about the level of seal detail in this chapter: I won't go that deeply into it again, or at least I haven't as of chapter 19. I just wanted to explain some things and present some interesting (IMO) ideas of how seals and handseals relate.

Suna's assassin flew across the distance between Konoha's delegation and Suna's assembled ninja when Tsunade flicked him in the back. He landed in a heap before the Yondaime Kazekage, the impact of her finger with his ribcage having winded and stunned him.

Itachi wore the same impassive face his companions did, practically vibrating with tension beneath his external calm. This had to work. He _had to make this work_. War was evil. He couldn't let Sasuke suffer the same horrors he had during the Third War.

He would force Suna to back off even if he had to rip the Kazekage apart with his bare hands.

In a quiet corner of his mind, he smirked slightly at just how right his mother was.

* * *

Yuji watched from beneath the cover of a sand-coloured and sand-coated blanket on a dune some distance away as the one Tsunade had launched scrambled to his feet and got behind the important people he had landed in front of.

_I have no fucking clue what the hell is going on here._

**_Does it matter? The Itachi boy calls and we pummel Shukaku._ **

_You mean_ you _pummel Shukaku. I don't think my unfinished Rasengan's going to do much to him, and I can't summon toads anymore. Shuriken and kunai are going to do jack shit._

**_True;_** **I'll** ** _pummel the tanuki bastard._** Kurama's grin was so strong that it actually stretched across Yuji's face.

He put his frown back on when he regained control. _This sucks._

**_That's just because you're too wimpy to enjoy ripping the stuffing out of a one-tailed weakling._ **

Yuji rolled his eyes.

* * *

Itachi spotted Gaara. The boy was on the second tier of the stepped wall surrounding Suna, his bare red hair allowing Itachi to locate him amongst his fellow Suna-nin, many of whom wore some variation of a burnoose. The black marks around his eyes had the same sinister look many claimed the Yondaime Kazekage wore when he crushed people to death with his gold clouds.

The boy had only recently been acknowledged as a proper jinchuuriki by Suna's highest circles according to the reports the Sandaime had given the delegation. Three years ago, he had been considered a target by all, an unkillable one. His sand defence was supposed to be very good.

Itachi idly wondered if Shisui would have trouble wiping the floor with this boy, but the Uchiha were careful with Shisui ever since Hatake Kakashi had gained notoriety with his stolen Sharingan, too careful to risk sending him to face the might of Suna with so few companions. Shisui, famed as the strongest of the Uchiha with his powerful eyes, had been a frequent target of Kumo-nin attempting to steal them. Quiet investigation had revealed that some Kumo-nin had not actually been from Kumo, and Shisui had never been allowed to be alone in Konoha since then whenever he had been back from the northeastern border.

Itachi had never desired Mangekyou: he had seen Shisui's grief and rage at losing his older sister to Iwa-nin. The trade was not worth it.

Besides, power was not the only way to beat an opponent.

Tsunade-sama was speaking the words Itachi had known to expect—not the script she had been given, but close enough with enough of her own personality mixed in that the essence was slightly shifted from sneering contempt to righteous fury.

Righteousness would hopefully provoke Suna less than the contempt. Itachi wondered if the speech had been written more to manipulate Tsunade than Suna.

The Kazekage was impassive. That man was of a utilitarian mindset according to what Itachi had read. Suna was being downsized because of pressures from a merchant block in Port Mure, which had redirected the funds towards upgrading the harbour, making Port Mure into the gateway it was today. The Wind Lord, uninterested in distracting his two biggest rival nations from their little war on the east coast while he cornered all trade with the western lands, sent missions to Iwa with the intention of placating the northern rival.

Now Suna was here, trying to provoke a war that its nation didn't want and might not be able to win even with Konoha fighting on two fronts.

What did this all mean?

One thing was certain: the Kazekage was not happy about the two men dressed in silk robes and their lowly entourage of scribes. They had been introduced as observers from the Wind Lord, probably here to report on how Suna handled the precarious situation. As far as Konoha was concerned, these men were allies in the cause to avert war, if a little too concerned with how their country looked backing down while doing it.

Tsunade was calling upon her reputation as one of the Sannin now, and the Kazekage did not appear nearly as impressed and cowed as Itachi had hoped.

Was it because Tsunade's fame had been gained mainly at Suna's detriment? Or because of her prolonged fall from grace? No, this was different. Familiarity bred contempt. Orochimaru. There had been hints in the briefing that someone shameful and important was involved with Suna. Itachi had suspected Danzou, but Orochimaru was an equally bad option.

Itachi longed for the day when he would have unlimited access to Intelligence's archives so he could finally understand all this scheming and backstabbing.

* * *

_Oh shit._ Yuji winced as arms started waving and fingers started pointing. Whatever was going on between Konoha and Suna, it was getting ugly. He kept an eye on Itachi, waiting for some sign. _Can you tell which one is Shukaku's host? He's supposed to be a redhead. All I can see are blob figures._

**_Unless you hand over your body, you are stuck with the eyes genetics dealt you._ **

_And let you ruin my jaw again? Heck no. Keep your godly eyes._

**_Wimp. What's a little muscle ache? Opening your mouth that wide is required to devour the chakra for final compression and adding an elemental nature to the ball._ **

_I like my mouth the way it is, thanks._

**_Stick with your poor imitation then._ **

_Imitation?_

**_Rasengan. Your father copied our technique to create that jutsu, only he adapted it to compensate for how you humans are incapable of working with positive and negative chakra._ **

_Huh._ Yuji's interest in this revelation dissolved as Itachi stepped forward in sync with an older Konoha jounin and made calming hand motions even as his posture screamed aggression. He had never seen the Uchiha like this before, so emotional. Something very important must have been going down; no wonder he had called in his first favour.

* * *

"You send even one platoon across River towards our border, and we won't restrain ourselves like we are with Kumo."

The Kazekage eyed Tsunade-sama, just as expressionless as he had been when she had brought up the treaty the Sandaime Kazekage had signed before questioning whether Suna had so little respect for their former leader that they ignore its terms. "Why should I abide by this when one of my men made it through your entire village's defences to strike down your Hokage?"

Behind him, his councillors made a lot of noises of agreement. They were a demonstrative bunch, quick to shout accusations and slander or denials as the real conversation between the Kazekage and the Hokage-elect went on. It was probably a tactic to make the Kazekage look more regal in comparison in the eyes of his troops.

"Because you've revealed your intentions. No power you hold can stand against Konoha's combined might. After all, you hold the weakest of the bijuu."

The Kazekage kept his face blank, but his lack of response indicated that Suna had heard of Kyuubi and Nibi's fight. "And yet," he said after a long pause, "where is your jinchuuriki? He did not return to Konoha with Jiraiya."

Agents had identified Yuji then, possibly even the face beneath Yuji's henge if they had been watching the hotel room after the fight with Yugito.

"Right where he needs to be," Tsunade-sama said.

Here.

Itachi was certain the Kazekage and his councillors understood that. He couldn't sense the boy, but surely a sensor-type Suna-nin had reported to the Kazekage about a chakra presence not with the Konoha delegation but nearby.

"If Suna is so pressed for contracts that they would attempt the assassination of a rival village leader as advertising, obviously Suna has need of a marketing specialist. If you are selling your services, it helps to be more accessible. You abandoned your offices in Port Mure, which is where anyone who wanted to hire you went to request a mission, in protest when the block of merchants first moved against you. And you wonder why your contracts suddenly decreased." Tsunade-sama's bark of laughter was loud enough for the listening Suna ninja to hear. "You let your Wind Lord order your missions handed over to Iwa, and now you defy him. I am surprised he has not already ordered for you to disband and leave his territory."

"The Wind Lord is aware that matters of war are the Kazekage's jurisdiction."

The Wind Lord's representative did not seem pleased with that statement.

Tsunade-sama kept going. "Not when the merchants of Port Mure know what will happen with a war. We heard their complaints to the Wind Lord all the way in Konoha. They have him convinced that Wind will starve."

And they were right, Itachi knew. Wind did not produce enough food to feed its population. The nomad clans wandering the desert and the northern steppes would be fine, but Wind's two biggest cities, Port Mure and Silicon City, would starve when Konoha enforced a blockade on Tea, River, and Fire's exports. And the Wind Lord could not allow that, not when they were his primary sources of income.

"No, you can't afford to get into a war. You won't win, and you won't gain back the funding and prestige you've been steadily losing. You had your moment of glory. Abide by the treaty, accept this meeting as Konoha's revenge, and figure out how to get and keep your missions. You know Orochimaru is a snake. His promised help will only last until he has what he wants. And you should know how he treats his allies until he's milked them dry. And where will that leave Suna? At odds with your host nation. Hated by the people most equipped to hire you because you've ruined their profits. No, this war is the last thing you want."

"Since you rejected the Chuunin Exam, acts like these are the only way to show off our skills." The Kazekage smiled thinly. "It is a strange world we live in, where ninja, who are by nature supposed to hide their skills to keep the advantage, can only gain attention and missions by showing off like a common street performer."

Tsunade spoke loudly so the ninja listening on the wall could pick out her words. "Host your own tourney in Port Mure. River and the other smaller villages would probably join in if you proved it a success." This was Konoha's peace offering for this embarrassing conversation: a path towards the future. Perhaps Suna had already thought of this, but why they hadn't gone through with it was obvious: the Kazekage saw Suna as a military organization, not a service for sale. He was a general, not a salesman.

This was the path modern ninja had to take though. The countries were established and didn't want war for the most part.

Would the Kazekage let the blow to his pride go? Would he choose the best path for his village over the face he would lose by backing down? It was this risk that had made Itachi nervous about holding this exchange in front of Suna. This should have happened behind closed doors.

The Kazekage smirked. "So Konoha offers an alternate path to keep us from war. How very generous of you." The way he said it made it obvious that he saw this as a frantic offering to stave Suna's wrath off. He also spoke loudly.

Itachi breathed easier and watched Tsunade-sama out of the corner of his eye. Everything hinged on how she reacted to this.

She smirked back at the Kazekage. "We are generous by nature." She made to go on, and Itachi had a flash of premonition. No, he couldn't let her speak more. She would snark or go on about why Konoha could afford to be generous, and that would ruin the delicate balance her mostly inoffensive comment had achieved.

"Then we are finished?" he asked quietly, making Tsunade turn slightly to fix him with a look. "Tsunade-sama, if we are to make it back to River on schedule…"

Again, the Kazekage's eyes flicked to the Shodaime's necklace resting on top of Itachi's flak vest. "A tight schedule?"

"We have a war to end on our northeastern border and the traitor Orochimaru to hunt down, Kazekage-sama. The sooner we get to it, the better."

* * *

Yuji watched in confusion as after a great deal of stiff handshaking and bowing, the Konoha ninja headed back east. _What the hell? Did they manage to settle things without fighting?_

**_Dammit._ **

Yuji was just filled with relief. He burrowed out from under his blanket, shook it off, stuffed it in his sac, and ran off southwest, thinking of ways to get the two tails he had acquired off his back. He had a monastery to get to, and he didn't want any Suna or Konoha spies to know where he planned to stay and study. _If I can't shake these guys, I'll let you scare them off._

**_Let them come then. Head a bit more south; reaching the mountains sooner will give you more places to break their line of sight and more places for me to ambush them._ **

One favour down.

* * *

Itachi sat before the Hokage, cross-legged on the tatami mats, and waited for the old man to finish mulling over his report.

"That was a bold claim at the end. The watchers from Kumo and Iwa will note that. If we do not deliver, our bluff will be moot. As it is, Kumo has marched more platoons through Hot Spring in the last week than in the last two years." The Sandaime did not look pleased, but there was resignation as well.

"For the bluff to hold, we had to commit to ending the war anyway. Stating it openly does not change that; it simply reinforces our commitment. Also, troops were marching in greater numbers the moment word that Suna embarrassed us got out."

Sarutobi-sama puffed on his pipe, wanly amused. "Border gossip always spreads so fast. There is nothing for Kumo to attack on the front anymore. We have been fighting there too long. Skirmishes with our forces are the best damage to Fire they can do as we keep them from lands behind our lines. A strip of broken stumps, traps, and ruined roads, bridges, and buildings, that is what we have been fighting back and forth over for ten years now. It is a fight for the sake of fighting, a pissing match we have to keep up with in order to keep Kumo from pressing any further. Now that press is here. I've doubled our forces, which will unfortunately only trigger further escalation."

"What do the advisors say?"

"Nothing good. Kumo has two jinchuuriki: Nibi and Hachibi. Both of the current jinchuuriki have good control over their beasts, though Hachibi's container, B, hasn't been seen outside of Kumo since the Yondaime Raikage took over. As you witnessed, they allow Nii Yugito more freedom of movement, placed as she was to take out the Daimyo or unleash Nibi on Konoha. We can't use Kyuubi as an effective threat the way we did with Suna."

"What about Hot Spring Country? What do they think of all this?"

"Their village isn't large enough to challenge either side, and they aren't interested in assisting a side. In return for letting Kumo forces pass through their land and make war on their border with us, they are left alone."

"And Konoha hasn't taken offence at this?"

"Hot Spring has essentially been a satellite state of Lightning Country for almost twelve years now. Kumo even takes a cut of their village's mission revenues in return for not recruiting them into their battle with us. The chances of turning them to our side are minimal."

Itachi mulled over that. Most jounin had figured that some sort of deal was in place with Hot Spring, but the particulars hadn't been bandied about by those who knew. "And ANBU? What do the specialists have to say?"

"They're still in discussions. They have been called up many times before and did not manage to offer a clear solution, but the situation has shifted slightly. Maybe they will find some opening to exploit that wasn't there before."

* * *

Yuji studied Wind Temple. It was an imposing building with many pillars. The strangest thing about it was its location though: it sat in the middle of an narrow, abnormally straight valley that ran exactly east to west. The wind howled through it, and a stream meandered along the valley floor. _Still don't think it's creepy?_

**_It's not creepy. I created this valley about six hundred years ago with a bijuudama aimed at Matatabi. He had forgotten how to pay me proper respect._ **

_That's why it's creepy. What about the monastery? Something's off about it._

**_It is a holy place. They are always off. The real monasteries never interested me._ **

_Because they were good places._

Kurama didn't reply.

_I don't know if I should wear a henge or not. Monks and priests work with chakra too, so they'll be able to tell I'm using a jutsu._

**_What deities these holy men worship will decide me. Go in and see what shrines they have. Keep your hood up._ **

_Okay._ Yuji bounded down the cliff face and across the plain to the temple's door, which faced due east. High above the door was a large round hole, which Yuji had difficulty dubbing a window because it wasn't filled with glass. He studied the imposing iron-banded hardwood doors, which swung outwards to open. _Defensible._

**_Then I guess they aren't as foolish as they could be._ **

Yuji knocked, but after three minutes without an answer, he grabbed the ring of one of the door's leaves and heaved it open a crack to peer inside. More pillars lined a huge chamber with a large golden mirror hung on the far wall.

**_Amaterasu-sama. This is a Shinto shrine._ **

_Even I know that._ "Hello?" He stepped into the room, noting the ablution basins between the first two pillars in each of the two rows framing the walkway to the mirror's position. After performing the cleansing ritual at the left basin, Yuji walked cautiously towards the mirror. A mural was painted on the chamber's south wall: a man stood with a sword in hand by the waves and a stormy sky. _Susanoo._ The north wall had a man silhouetted against the moon depicted. Horses ran on both walls towards the mirror. Near the west wall, the wall with the idol, the horses on each side leaped over doorways. They were empty and dark from this angle, so Yuji continued forward.

Lamps hung on the pillars, illuminating the room, since this close to noon, no light came in the circular window in the east wall above the door.

Another step. Another.

**_STOP!_ **

Yuji froze. _What?_

**_A seal, hidden in the paintings and among the floor tile patterns. Look around, carefully. See that swirl hidden in the horse's tail? And the line joining the hooves? This entire room is a net. The focus is two steps ahead, the space framed by the second and third pillar pairs._ **

_What's it a net for though?_

**_Bijuu._ **

"So you spotted it."

Yuji almost jumped a foot in the air as he whipped out a kunai and dropped into a crouch reflexively. He had trusted Dad and Seiichi-nii, so he had often failed to react to their presence, but this voice was strange. Chakra suddenly appeared all around him, twelve bonfires in all, one from behind each pillar. Two slowly moved to stand between him and the door. He could fit through the circular window, so he didn't think he was trapped, but he definitely felt threatened. Still, he wanted to study. He would wait to see what these holy men had in mind. "I spotted what?"

A monk near the front of the room stepped forward. It was the one that had spoken before. "The binding seal. Long ago, there was a wandering priest who carried in him a power. He had obtained and chained it wrongly and with it avoided punishment for straying from the path. He came here, unwitting, and the monks then ensnared him. They removed the power from him and released it back into the world."

A jinchuuriki. A priest had been a jinchuuriki. "And the priest, what happened to him?"

"He passed away. Many thought it was his angry ghost that became the power, but it was older than that."

Yuji grimaced. "But did they intend for him to die? Could they have extracted the power safely?"

"A man of his crimes should not have been allowed that mercy. He broke one of the prime rules: cause no death or harm. He was a bloodthirsty man. Are you deserving of death, traveller?"

Yuji narrowed his eyes. "No. What would make you ask that?"

"You hold a similar power in you."

"Why do you think that?"

The monk walked closer, a bald man in robes the same colour as the pillars. "The chakra of a god is distinct and we are trained to detect it within the temple."

"So, what are you going to do about that?"

"You are trapping a god. I imagine you are a ninja—"

"I'm not. I will be a captain on a sailing ship."

The monk blinked and narrowed his eyes. "Not a ninja. Did you run from your village, jinchuuriki?"

Yuji raised his chin. "I've never been in a hidden village, or at least I haven't since I was a baby."

"Why are you here, jinchuuriki?"

"Kurama and I have agreed that we need to search for a way to get him out of me without harming either of us. I've come to learn about seals."

"You wish to release the bijuu?"

Yuji nodded. "My parents put him in me when I was a baby, so I could hardly say no. And Kurama, well, they didn't give the poor guy a choice."

"Kurama-sama… The Kyuubi. You bear Kyuubi-sama?" The monk looked pained even as his brothers traded glances.

Yuji nodded.

"The Purifying Flame," whispered one of the monks between Yuji and the door before dropping to his knees and pressing his forehead to the floor.

_Dude, I thought Itachi was bad._

**_Hmph._ **

* * *

Brother Hikmat knocked on Yuji's cell door. "Naruto-kun, how goes that chain seal?"

Yuji had ended up having to give the monks that name when they had persisted in asking him for the name he had been born with, refusing to call him Yuji. He had also been asked—very politely but firmly—not to wear a henge. Deception of any kind was not allowed in the temple. These monks were devoted to preserving the truth of the world.

They had agreed to let him stay, but he had refused to be classified as a novice. He _liked_ eating meat, even if he did have to run off and hunt it himself and cook it over a campfire to be polite to all the monks who couldn't eat animal flesh. So, instead he was kind of like a live-in historian/storyteller—that had been the monks' compromise. They wanted to be able to ask Kurama questions about history. Yuji had demanded that they not kowtow to him because that had gotten irritating after the first twenty minutes and had promised that Kurama-sama was of the same mind regarding their courtesy.

Kurama was actually kind of flattered to be the centre of the monks' attention. Every night after the evening meal, the monastery, nuns and monks alike, would gather in the shrine chamber with the mirror and meditate together. Brother Hikmat, who was one of the higher ranked monks, had taught Yuji how to work with the group meditation and bring Kurama with him to some other plane where all the monks and nuns would sit and listen as the abbot asked Kyuubi for stories about things that had happened ages ago.

Yuji was exhausted after these sessions. It seemed that his will was necessary to maintain the gathering on the plane so Kurama could speak to the monks and nuns. Yuji was also getting a very thorough crash course in ancient history he had never heard about before.

There were an awful fucking lot of wars.

Nations Yuji had never heard of rose and fell in rapid succession in Kurama's tales, though the fox didn't actually know a lot of the names and dates involved. Cultures were destroyed, technology advanced and was lost, and humanity's numbers shrank over the generations after an initial boom post-Juubi. The abbot would provide the context for Kyuubi's recollections.

But they, particularly Brother Hikmat, were teaching him and Kurama sealing while working on researching a safe way to separate Kurama from Yuji. The monks had been skeptical that Kurama was willing to wait if it meant Yuji would live, but Kurama had gracelessly grumbled that he would be patient so long as they were quick about figuring this out during the first meeting Yuji had hosted on the astral plane thing.

It had been the fox's equivalent to saying that Yuji was his best bro, apparently.

Yuji looked down at his sand tray, narrowing his eyes at lines that were too wide or not quite curved correctly. "Okay, I guess."

Brother Hikmat approached after Yuji nodded permission and inspected his work. "It will function, if not very efficiently. You see, the channels here, here, and here are misshapen. The chakra will have an added range factor that you negate at the very end with this condition mark here."

Yuji nodded slowly and pulled another sand tray over to sketch out a revised version. "Is that better?"

"I'd use this linker symbol instead, here." Hikmat smoothed out one squiggle and replaced it with something more angular. "See, when combining the result of this section with the main design, there's no need to add a linker that strong when the actual amount of chakra moving through is less than… hmm, I think ninja would say three rat seals."

Yuji stared blankly at the monk, who sighed.

"We are starting in the middle, I see. Each hand seal the ninja use is the equivalent of a seal pattern and a certain amount of chakra. Here"—with Yuji's nod, he wiped the sand tray and drew a design Yuji understood about sixty percent of—"is the rat seal with the intent for a basic genjutsu technique. Handseals combined with mental intent are just a shorthand equivalent." Hikmat went on for a time, explaining that each handseal performed a particular twisting of a certain amount of chakra and sometimes added a certain elemental nature, like how the snake seal was usually used in all of Seiichi's jutsu, since it was for earth nature, which was half of wood nature. The monks seemed to understand chakra in a much more scientific way than his dad and brother did.

By the end, Yuji managed to get his chain seal to capture a kunai he tossed through its trigger area, freezing it midair as misty yellow chakra chains sprouting from the sand tray coiled around it. Hikmat squeezed his shoulder in quiet congratulations and motioned that they take a break. As they walked through the narrow corridor that connected all the monks' cells on the south side of the monastery, Hikmat cleared his throat.

"You mentioned that you wished to return to Port Mure every few weeks, that you had a project there you had to oversee."

Yuji nodded.

"We have a supply caravan leaving this afternoon. Do you wish to join them? They will be gathering things we cannot get from the local farms."

"I'm going with them."

"They will not be able to travel as quickly as you, but they will offer what protection they can. You will go in disguise?"

"Yeah. Konoha's definitely looking for me, and Suna tried to tail me a while ago. I'm sure all of the villages would love to get a bead on me."

"We cannot let that happen, Naruto-kun. Kyuubi-sama has been imprisoned for far too long already. That you are willing to free him… No ninja would allow that."

_And you'd free him with my death if Kurama hadn't said no._

**_Be grateful I said no._ **

_Don't worry, I am, bro. These guys are crazy though. I can't believe they're keeping records of all this old tech in their catacombs and getting away with it. No wonder they're isolationist: they know how to make those guided bomb things._

**_The people of the time called them heat-seeking missiles._ **

"Naruto-kun, you said that your godfather, Jiraiya-sama, had a key?" said Hikmat.

"Yeah, though he never showed it to me. Do you think you'll need it?"

"We can only probe the seal. It is a twist on an Uzumaki Clan seal, which is a bastardization of a very old set of seals used by the monks of the monastery in the Silver Range, which stretches between Iron and Earth: an Uzumaki scion was raised there for his protection during one of the many clan wars and revolutionized his whole clan's sealing style with their teachings. The Uzumaki overrode many of the protections and failsafes in the seal to increase its power, but this version… we think some of them might have been added back in, just in a strange form. Your father… we're assuming you are the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, with your appearance."

"Yeah, so I've been told."

"He had some strange teachers apparently. The key would probably help us bypass the cage function. The problem is this: a jinchuuriki, when invested with a god, is changed. They gain a life force beyond what they are physically capable of holding, so the power of the god preserves them by altering them. If we remove Kurama-sama from you, you will be left empty, so empty that your self essentially collapses. Your Uzumaki blood gives you a much stronger 'soul' and chakra profile than most people, so you would be able to hold on for a while. You were also apparently carried in the womb alongside the Kyuubi, so your resistance is increased even more. I would give you forty-eight hours if we pulled Kurama-sama from you the same way we pulled Shukaku from the priest.

"The more you allow Kurama's chakra into your body, your soul's house, the more dependent upon its presence you will become, reducing the time we can expect you to live without it.

"Jinchuuriki inevitably die. They are descending back to mortality. Like the man who went to the dragon's palace in the sea, time caught up with him once he returned to the mortal lands."

Yuji shivered. _That's a pretty nasty thing, Kurama._

**_Not intentional. I'm not meant to have flesh like yours._ **

"Okay. And you think the key will help you get a better handle on what the Yondaime did."

Hikmat nodded. "Possibly. At the very least, it will allow you to release the seal on Kyuubi-sama, which traps him in your soul. It will give him increased mobility."

"But it'll mean that my body will be tied even tighter to him." Yuji kept his mind as blank as his face, not letting Hikmat or Kurama detect his thoughts.

"Yes."

"Hmm. Okay, well, I'll see what I can do."

* * *

When Yuji got back to Port Mure, the whores had all sorts of interesting news for him but nothing on his mother. They were all in a tizzy over how Suna was setting up a tournament-style exam that anyone could go watch at the big arena usually used to host baseball matches. Ninja from all of the smaller nations were going to be participating, but Isla was particularly excited by how Konoha and Kumo were each sending a team.

"They've stopped fighting up north, so the sailors say. Everyone's sure the genin teams are going to rip each other apart though."

_Ninja_ , Yuji and Kurama thought at the same time. Only Yuji got to shake his head in disgust.

* * *

Itachi pressed his face into his palms and breathed a sigh of relief after Sasuke left the living room to pout in the bath.

They weren't going to send Sasuke. The possibility had haunted him ever since he had been sent with the delegation in charge of talking Kumo's brass into agreeing to the chuunin exam idea.

Fortunately, the Hyuuga were not going to allow Konoha to send the girl Kumo's top jounin had "maimed" into this proxy war. Their debate over setting her aside as heir was already making them unpopular. To allow the poster child of how Konoha was in the right in battling Kumo more exposure would be to risk ruining Hyuuga Hiashi's reputation permanently. Sasuke had told him that allowing Tsunade-sama to "miraculously cure" Hinata's eyes had been bandied about, only to be rejected with the ceasefire so new, since it would raise questions in some quarters about Hinata's former "ruined eyes".

Itachi had never been so grateful to have Hinata on Sasuke's team before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is about the end of the lighthearted (ha!) stuff for a while. Next chapter is a doozy. I'll have it out asap.


	14. Interlude

Konoha had been subjected to many things since its creation.

Madara had besieged it countless times until the Shodaime had killed him.

It had been attacked a couple times in every major war.

Kyuubi had levelled a good portion of the village during his rampage.

And now…

Now.

People screamed and ran as enormous snakes slithered free of the sewers followed by ninja wearing the mark of the musical note.

Buildings crumbled as enormous snakes ploughed through them. Some erupted into flames. Gas leaks exploded violently.

Oto-nin tossed exploding tags and kunai, mowing down shrieking civilians as Leaf shinobi struggled to mount a counterattack on the system of pipes beneath their feet. Some Oto ninja transformed into horrifying freaks of nature.

Even before the chaos erupted though, Orochimaru stepped from the shadows of Hiruzen's lonely sleeping chamber. Suna's poison had done its work: the old Hokage was no longer capable of keeping up with the long hours he was used to putting in. He slept deeply, as an old man should.

* * *

Konohamaru had been the one to discover his grandfather in his bloody and soiled sheets as he ran to get reassurance from the old man when the invasion started. A snake bite on the left wrist told Tsunade that Orochimaru had probably kept the old man disabled and taunted him. Her old teammate was twisted enough to enjoy gloating before dealing a deathblow.

What a sad, inglorious end for the Professor.

Tsunade wrote the time of death down on the chart and stared blankly at the corpse of her old sensei. How she hated him for leaving her with this mess. The Uchiha had reported that two of their teenaged genin were missing and that other teenaged and young adult Uchiha of genin and chuunin level had fought off kidnapping attempts during the attack. Itachi and Sasuke had been particular targets, but they and their parents had held the group of five monsters at bay. The kami only knew what Orochimaru was going to do with the pair he had gotten considering what he had done with the last bunch of children he had kidnapped. Knowing Konoha though, there would be whispers that the boys were traitors that had joined Orochimaru willingly.

Tucking her clipboard under her arm, she walked out of the ward, off to deal with other cases before the Elders came to give her the unwelcome but expected news that she had been appointed Godaime until the jounin had time to vote. Would they vote her in? Shizune had said that her reputation was failing, and with the insolvency of Senju, what was she?

The only reassurance was that she had to be better than Danzou. (She hoped.)

* * *

Mikoto leaned against the door to Sasuke's room, ignoring the fresh holes in the walls from shuriken and kunai thrown during the desperate struggle only hours before.

Only tenuous threads of control and Itachi's level gaze was keeping her from clutching both of her boys against her and forcing them to sleep within arm's reach.

"Mother."

She let out a breath. A light rap on the door only made her suck it in again. Itachi squeezed her shoulder and took up guard duty by Sasuke's door as she went to see who dared intrude on her house at this hour.

Naoki-san, a distant Uchiha cousin whose husband ran a butcher shop, bustled in, a basket of fresh cuts hanging from her arm. "Mikoto-san, I had to know you were well! The boys? Fugaku?"

"All well. And your family?"

"Well enough. Orochimaru's freaks apparently had no use for my daughter, with her impure bloodlines. His men were still a bother though."

A bother. Naoki-san was ever boisterous. Mikoto accepted the generous cuts of beef and pork, tucking some in the fridge and the rest in the freezer.

"Men in black with red clouds on the wall this afternoon," Naoki whispered as she helped prepare some tea. "Hoshigaki Kisame is confirmed. The other… Still trying to identify him."

"They entered the village?"

"They watched the carnage. Waited and watched carefully. Probably waiting for an explosion of chakra from you-know-what."

"So they suspect him of returning here after all the sniffing around the Red City and Suna they've been doing."

"Apparently. Or they're being thorough."

Mikoto nodded. "More likely. There are rumours of him in Iwa. Probably Jiraiya-sama's doing. It's more likely the boy went to the southern islands to lie low. He was last seen heading south towards Port Mure after Suna."

Naoki shook her head. "I've heard very quiet whispers that ANBU has watched him walk through Port Mure."

"Then the Sandaime did know where he was." Why not force him back? Had the Sandaime managed to make the boy heel and placed him to be the dagger at Suna's throat, enforcing their compliance with the treaty? With Akatsuki here, the old Hokage had probably made the right choice to keep the boy out of sight and out of mind. Yesterday, she would have thought this foolishness (who better to protect things than ninja?), but that had been hours before two of her clansmen had been taken by a snake freak. Mikoto could only hope that the boy was protected or competent enough to keep other villages from scooping him up.

With the Sandaime gone, what would his successor do with the boy? By all the gods, she would have to go pray that certain people failed in their ploys to be elected Godaime. Not that there was a good successor out there in her eyes, not with Itachi too young.

No candidate would be good for the Uchiha or the jinchuuriki boy.

* * *

**_Behind you!_ **

Yuji dropped and rolled to one side in one of Silicon City's market district streets. People out shopping gaped at his antics, the shattering glass window he had been walking past, and the clatter of mannequins the attacker had knocked over after going through the window. _Dammit!_

**_You're going to need speed. This ninja doesn't want to talk. He was aiming to knock you out. I saw it in the window's reflection._ **

_Masked?_

**_Yes._ **

_Konoha?_

**_I'm not certain. His mask has the style favoured by Konoha's ANBU agents. A rat._ **

_Not my dad, I guess._ More like he hoped.

**_Not Takashi. Taller._ **

The great thing about talking with Kurama in his head was that it was way faster than talking out loud could ever be. He palmed a paper seal out from where it had been hidden up his sleeve and drew a short dagger for show. He was clad in local robes. The last thing he wanted was for his place with the monks to be discovered.

**_Two more. Definitely from Konoha._ **

_Shit. I really hope Itachi becomes Hokage soon so he can keep these bastards off our back._ Yuji let Kurama feed him chakra in low enough levels that it would only darken the whisker marks (which were hidden under makeup) and elongate his canines. He needed the boost if he was going to take on three guys without letting Kurama out in the middle of this city.

He wasn't sure he would be able to manage three opponents; heck, even one ANBU agent should be beyond him given his track record.

Civilians were getting the idea though: they began running every direction to get away from the porcelain masks. No one paused to offer him aid.

Civilians knew that they didn't stand a chance against ninja bastards. Yuji couldn't resent them for using common sense. _Little help? I could use some stretchy arms placing seals._

**_Which ones?_ **

_Two from the collection above my right elbow: put those on the ones behind me. One from the roll in my left pocket: a metre in front. Six from my right pocket—those ones need to go in a circle ten metres in diameter. Make sure we're in the middle. Don't charge them until everything else is ready._ Yuji spun and threw his dagger as the Tiger-masked asshole behind him made a move in the reflection of the shop window across the street.

Chakra arms moved in his clothing and dove down into the earth even before the dagger left his hand.

The ninja to his left with the Dog mask tensed: chakra sensor. The other two reacted immediately.

"Too slow."

Orange-red chakra chains exploded out of the perimeter seals. The pair of seals attached to the bottom of the sandals of the two behind Yuji caused them to collapse as they accessed their chakra to dodge. The one other seal had the chakra chains slam the Rat agent to the ground in front of him. Yuji pressed the paper seal in his hand to Rat's forehead, who slumped in the chains, caught in a genjutsu of the misty plane of existence Yuji had dreamed up. With luck, the man would populate the dream with his own demons.

With the two agents behind him kept unconscious due to dangerously low chakra levels maintained by the seals on their sandals, Yuji felt pretty safe pulling the mask off the Rat. A young man, even younger than Seiichi-nii. Pushing the cloak away, he checked both shoulders. No sign of the Konoha ANBU tattoo. That meant these guys were fakes or worse: Root. Dad and Sarutobi had warned him to watch out for those guys. He forced the guy's mouth open. Yup. There was the zipper seal. That put an end to getting these bastards to talk unless it was allowed by their mission.

Shit.

Shimura Danzou. Yuji had heard some pretty fucked up rumours about that guy and some horror stories during his education from Mamoru, even if he was from the same clan his dad was. Danzou was apparently connected to every heinous thing Konoha was hated internationally for.

_Great. I'm gonna need your help._

**_Erasing the last five minutes? Will that even be enough? If they dared attacking in the open, they likely were tracking us for a while._ **

_How long, Kurama?_

The fox was quiet for a bit. **_An hour._**

_And you didn't say anything. We're gonna have a chat about that later._

**_We are. It's pathetic that I had to tell you._ **

_Whatever. Later. I can't erase a whole hour. I'm not a Yamanaka. I might as well fry their whole brain._

**_You could. It would be safest: they did know to find us here instead of in Port Mure. Other ninja agents are going to appear soon. If a chakra sensor in this group could find you when you aren't even wearing a henge, now that we've activated ten seals…_ **

_I get it. But dumping these guys in the lake isn't going to be subtle. Someone's gonna come looking for them._

**_Who's to say you killed them?_ **

Yuji froze, horrified, but the fox was right. _No burn marks or Rasengan then. I'm gonna question at least one first though._ He pulled out some paper and a pencil and began scrawling out a quick sealing pattern. One after another, he stashed the Root guys away with it. After carefully nabbing his chain and target seals, he wall-walked further up the street before blending his footprints in with the rest of the crowd's.

* * *

Yuji sat on a bench with a frankfurter smothered in onions and resting on a bun in hand—food from the western nations was pretty common in Silicon City. He'd ditched his old robes in favour of a costume change and had shut Kyuubi out again, favouring the silence in his head and the idea of hiding from anyone capable of detecting him using chakra.

The scroll he had sealed the Root agents in weighed heavily in his pocket. A complication. A responsibility.

"I'm not even fourteen," he hissed under his breath. "I shouldn't be dealing with maniacs like Danzou."

The onions were unsympathetic.

The temptation to simply leave the Root agents in the scroll was strong. He left all sorts of stuff sealed away; why not these bastards? The obvious answer was that he had no fucking clue how well they would keep there. Heck, they could already be dead.

Or, worse, they could have escaped.

He kept his fingers from twitching as the urge to verify that they were still bound grabbed hold of him.

_The best kept secret between more than one person is between someone and the other person's grave._ Dad had fed him so many variations of that line over the years. It was true too. If he let these guys live, there was no way to be sure they would not escape and take the secret of his fuuinjutsu techniques with them back to Konoha.

Bile rose in his throat as he contemplated Kyuubi and his dad's option: murder. Permanent, definitely. Bodies could be cleaned up. Complications with Konoha? Possibly, if he was ever implicated in their deaths, if their bodies were found.

"Fuck but I wish I was a Yamanaka." Erasing their damn memories of ever finding him would be so much easier, but not cleaner. They would be questioned. People would figure out what had happened.

Fuck.

* * *

Rat–192 squinted as light dissolved the misty expanse he had been wandering fruitlessly in ever since his vision had gone dark with him at the feet of the failed jinchuuriki. Dog–79 had assured him that the chakra was right, but Danzou-sama had not mentioned the boy knew advanced sealing techniques. Indeed, the information he had been provided with stated that Namikaze Naruto had been trained by Rat–67, an expert in leading evasion and undercover operations, and that his time with Jiraiya had been spent studying toad summoning and Rasengan.

What had the boy learned after leaving Konoha's delegation at Suna?

Rat–192 had not been told why Danzou-sama expected the boy to show up in Silicon City, only that he and his team were to capture the boy and drag him back to Konoha for reconditioning or resealing of the Kyuubi if the boy proved useless as a proper host after reeducation.

While he went through his information, Rat–192 had been attempting to escape the chair he was bound to with seals, but he couldn't even get it to rock. Some sort of force absorption or balancing seal had to be tying it to the ground despite his efforts.

"Are you going to tell me why you're after me?" said a young teen's voice behind and to his left. It was steady and cold.

Rat peered into the darkness behind his left shoulder, but the container was well beyond the circle of light his chair sat in. He considered what to say as he tested the give of the paper seals restraining his wrists, knees, elbows, and ankles. The boy had been well taught: the bonds wouldn't harm him despite his efforts, but they didn't allow any movement either. There would be no using blood as a lubricant to slip free. His chakra level was being kept very low as well.

If he wanted to die, he would have to bite off his tongue.

"Kyuubi is to return to Konoha."

Soft footsteps, rubber sole on concrete. "And I wouldn't live past the gates." The voice came from behind his right shoulder this time. "You think I didn't hear horror stories about what happened to jinchuuriki that failed, that disobeyed?"

The voice was young, but Rat felt no sympathy. Logic simply said that if this boy had wanted to avoid being another horror story, he should have stayed with Jiraiya and moved according to Konoha's will until Danzou-sama had had need of him.

"You'd pull Kyuubi out of my guts and shove him in some other poor kid, wouldn't you?"

So the boy was not entirely stupid. Pity.

"And it wouldn't even be by the Godaime's order, would it? Nooo, the old hag wouldn't even be asked. Because you don't care: Danzou says jump, so you jump. You don't care how high."

That was untrue. Rat would care how high because that would be a mission parameter that needed to be fulfilled. But this boy was nothing, obviously a failure at reeducation in the making, and so he got no reply from Rat. He was a walking corpse: Danzou-sama would retrieve the Kyuubi from this useless boy and bestow it upon someone more worthy.

"Have you got my replacement picked out? Some poor orphan? Some kid related to the old hag that'll be devoted to her now that she's Hokage?"

Rat considered how to escape and finish the mission. The boy's idiotic assumptions didn't deserve a moment's thought. He tried generating chakra, but the draining seal kept him at the same level, too little to even work an E-rank jutsu. No range of movement meant that getting at various small blades hidden on his person was impossible. His subordinates were nowhere in sight.

"Or, instead, some kid that Danzou can raise totally loyal to him… Yeah, I bet it's the last one. But you probably don't even know. Or care, really. After all, it's not going to be you. Too old. Too useful as you are. Kyuubi's a handful, not good for a Root agent."

The boy clearly didn't know what he was talking about.

Footsteps just outside of the light again. Clockwise, circling behind him and coming around his left side to the front. "Well, you've been very helpful. I hope Dog and Tiger will be even more so."

"They won't talk." Rat knew this for a fact.

A hooded figure stepped into the light. He looked nothing like the teenaged boy Rat had been shadowing through the city. This boy's hands were a pinker flesh tone as they peaked from beneath the long tan sleeves of his local robe. His face was mostly in shadow, but his teeth, especially those elongated canines, gleamed in the light as Namikaze Naruto grinned. "They don't need to," Uzumaki Kushina's heir promised him.

And then the world disappeared into smoke.

* * *

Under the cover of overcast darkness on a peninsula covered in scrubby vegetation, Yuji triple checked that the bodies were clean of any sign that he had been the one to slit their throats and sew stones into their guts, gritting his teeth to hold down his gag reflex. Dad had explained this concept of hiding pursuit corpses in their last months together. Yuji had been totally grossed out, and Dad had said he would probably never need to know it for any other reason than to know what to watch out for.

Looked like that had been wishful thinking.

Heaving the Dog agent's corpse encased in a sac over his shoulder, he walked out onto Lake Eisa to where it was deepest. "I'm sorry," he whispered over and over again, his mind soaked in guilty agony.

He didn't deserve to see his mom again after this.

He let the deadweight slide silently into the water with a prayer. Next was the Tiger. Last was the Rat.

"Sorry," he whispered again, his mouth contorting on the edge of sobs as he knelt on the water's surface, watching the result of his grisly labour sink into the black depths. "But I don't want to go back, bound and draped over your shoulder like a sac of rice, especially not when this Danzou bastard wants me back so much."

Letting the tears flow as he wailed into his sleeve to stifle any noise, he cursed mentally.

He was very sure this was not going to be the last time he would have to do this. In fact, it was probably just luck he had managed to avoid the necessity this long.

Stupid fucking ninja.

* * *

"The snake man split from the black cloaks with red clouds," the whore, Juliette, whispered in Jiraiya's ear. "He annoyed the one with a face mask and head covering. A bird told me he almost ripped the snake man to pieces, though the snake gave back as good as he got. The cloaks are annoyed: he took a ring with him."

"Is the ring important?"

Juliette giggled as though he had told a joke and caressed his chest. He struggled not to salivate. This had to be his favourite part of his job. "I've seen plenty of cloaked ones without rings. The big honchos, the ones that get sent out on the toughest missions they're hired for, they wear the rings. One ring for each finger."

She tapped his sternum with her left pinky. "The snake stole this one."


	15. Chapter 15

**_Kid, I'm tired of waiting._ **

Naruto froze in the middle of drawing a linking seal in the sand tray. _What?_ So this was what a sucker punch out of nowhere felt like. Well, he actually had experience with those (his later escapades fending Root agents off had never gone as smoothly as the first one), but he was getting exposure to the conversational equivalent.

It was equally unpleasant.

**_It's been over two years. You and the monks are moving at a snail's pace, testing and trying but getting nowhere. We've never heard about your mom. Itachi has failed to keep his end of the bargain: we've picked up no rumours of the amount of destruction killing the masked man would involve. We're acting like rats, cowering. I'm Kyuubi no Kitsune, not a rat!_ **

_Kurama, dude, chill._ Naruto took deep breaths. He had to calm the fox down. It was almost dinnertime. After dinner, the monks and nuns would expect the usual history lesson with Kurama, and if the fox was still pissed by then, all he had to do was open his vulpine mouth and Naruto would be dead. They'd free the fox, leaving Naruto's soul to crumble, because, to them, Kyuubi was a kami and what he said was law, no matter how much they might like Naruto.

**_You're telling me to calm down after I've been trapped in various bodies, a spirit stuck watching memories, for almost a century. Be very careful, boy._ **

_Sorry, you're just scaring the crap out of me._ Naruto sighed. _Look, I know. I get you. I thought we'd be done ages ago. I'm almost too old to apprentice on a ship now._

**_Then let's go. Let's take the key from Jiraiya. Let's crack open the seal. With an example of a counter, these monks can make some progress. You've been putting it off, getting the key._** Kurama was almost growling now.

_I have. Sorry, but the idea of making myself die even sooner after having you pulled out scares the ever-loving shit out of me. Remember that rumour we heard in Silicon City two months ago, how Akatsuki was ignoring their biggest clients and their top brass were moving around in pairs? And how Dad and Jiraiya warned me that they might be connected to the bijuu? One whore whispered that the Shichibi was captured, though how the heck she'd know that when Fu was a Taki ninja is suspicious._

**_That's why we need to move. The villages have to know where we are by now. If they know, then others will find out. We can't just sit here._ **

_Then we'll go to sea. Get on a vessel. Keep an eye out for Jiraiya and grab the key when we find him. I've got the basics down, so I can just bring some scrolls on advanced theory with us. And when we find Jiraiya, I'll let you beat the crap out of him for lying about where my mom is._

**_Deal. Let's go._ **

_Let me pack first. I need to get permission to take scrolls._

**_If you're going to insist on a delay, there's someone I want to meet up with when we set out. He's not far away. I can sense him._ **

_Is he coming here? Is that why you want us to leave?_

**_Yes. I can sense his filth approaching._ **

_Who is it? Is he dangerous?_

Kurama snorted. **_Hardly. I've just missed the chance to beat the stupid out of him._**

_Ah, Shukaku. Okay, let's go. Try to keep the property damage down this time, huh?_

**_That's why we're leaving, whiner. Pack._ **

_Yessir._ Naruto grinned and ran off to find Hikmat.

* * *

_So you can sense stuff at great distances?_ Naruto asked partially sarcastically as they ran east down the last of the foothills and onto a sea of dunes. _'Not far,' you said. 'Approaching,' you said. We're halfway between Suna and Port Mure if my mental map is right. We could be_ in _Port Mure by now._

**_Brat. Yes, at vast distances, I can detect certain things. It helps me do my duty._ **

_And what exactly do you sense?_

**_Hatred, ill intent, negative emotions. The boy that carries Shukaku is full of rotten emotions under the surface. I can detect Shukaku's vile personality below that._ **

_Why is it you didn't tell me about this before?_

**_You didn't ask. If you use the key on the seal, you gain access to this sense._ **

_Ah, I see what you're doing. I don't take bribes, Ku-man._

**_Will you stop with that name?_ **

_Nah, it's funny—Ku-man, human, get it? That him?_ A clump of sand was rocketing south. Four figures stood on it, one quite apart from the other three.

**_Yes._ **

_Try not to break my body too badly, huh?_

**_You don't want to try out Rasengan on a real target, wimp? Or those nasty seals you developed on the side?_ **

_No thanks. You're the one that wants to beat your fellow bijuu to a pulp. I just wanna keep the Root guys from dragging me back to Konoha by my hair. Remind me to get it shaved down once we get to Port Mure, will ya? I should have asked Sister Felice to do it before we split._

**_I'm sure the hair falling in your eyes will do that better than I can. Your loss. Pummelling that tanuki is therapeutic._ **

_You taunting Shukaku?_ Naruto asked as the clump of sand suddenly zipped towards the ground and dissolved under the trio, leaving them falling to earth about a kilometre away as the last passenger crouched on the sand to shoot towards where Naruto was standing with much greater speed.

Gaara.

**_Of course I am. Being able to taunt Shukaku while he's stuck in that boy while I'm stuck in you is the greatest of the few joys left to me._ **

_You're telling me that you don't lick yourself? Dude, you can't be that old. Or are you saying you get off on pissing Ichibi off?_

**_Crass._ **

_My mom was a whore. I yak with whores all the time. And I'm a teenaged boy. Why are you surprised?_

The Suna jinchuuriki was close enough now, dropping to the sand, that Naruto could make out the malicious grin on his face that didn't match his empty teal eyes. _A psychopath?_

**_Shukaku tends to do that to his hosts when they don't have any resistance to his influence._ **

_Kami-sama! Holy shit! What did you do to me?_

**_Nothing. You have resistance, unfortunately. Besides, you are a much better host than Mito and Kushina._ **

_In what way? Should I be worried?_

**_You should_ ** **always** **_be worried._ **

Naruto could tell the fox was chuckling silently and rolled his eyes. _You are a real piece of work, you know that, Ku-man?_

**_Quit it with the name!_ **

"So you came to meet me!" Gaara laughed. It was the ugliest laugh Naruto had ever heard, manic almost. "You ran last time."

"Didn't have any reason to fight you," Naruto said. "Still don't, except that you're a major creep and I'm so sorry that you're lacking whatever it is you need to stay sane with Ichibi in you. I'm still not going to fight you."

Confusion crept onto Gaara's face. "What? Of course you are! That's what we're here for!"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not a ninja, Gaara-san. Fighting's not my job. I've got other things I want to do."

A sneer twisted the redhead's lips. "So, they were right. You are hiding from Konoha, not just laying low. You're denying what you are."

"I'm not. I like who I am just fine. Now, if I was like you, I'd have a problem. I was going to give you some advice about what's coming for you, but death might be a mercy in your case. Eternal peace and all that."

Gaara's face slackened before it went eerily blank. "I'm going to enjoy this. This place—"

"Yeah, I was told a couple years ago about your fighting style. Sandy desert or no, I think Kyuubi will be just fine."

Shutting his eyes for a moment, Naruto found himself in his subconscious. His skin was pale here too now, not Yuji's nut brown. He had been with the monks and their insistence on truth for too long. Too long away from his mom. He sighed and stepped between the bars. "Have at it, Ku-man."

**"Someday, I'm going to waste my time walloping you for that damn name."** But Kurama was grinning, his eyes slipping shut as the red chakra began to bleed through the water freely.

"See if you can knock the psycho out of Gaara. We probably should have decked him like you wanted when the delegation visited Suna. Might have knocked some sense into him."

**"Too late now, but I can try. Repeatedly."**

"Try not to kill his companions either, not that it looks like they're going to come any closer. They're probably scared silly of him, and I don't blame them."

Sand erupted from the desert at the same time as chakra blazed from Naruto, singeing his skin away in an efficient inferno the same moment four tails bubbled into existence and thrashed, summoning a pressure blast that knocked the sand away.

He saw Gaara's eyes widen as Kyuubi opened his mouth and grinned.

* * *

Naruto was so glad Kyuubi had gotten better at healing him over the years, otherwise emerging from the four-tailed form would have left him raw meat again. As it was, his skin was hypersensitive as he pulled on a fresh robe, but it was bearable. He crunched over the rapidly cooling glass Kyuubi had made out of Gaara and Shukaku's sand, heading towards the thoroughly pummelled jinchuuriki. When he reached the redhead's side, he hunkered down, grimacing at the lacerations, burns, and deep bruises visible through Gaara's shredded and burnt clothing. Apparently even the sand defence Itachi's note in the journal all those years ago had warned him about wasn't capable of holding off Kurama's fire-style bijuudama.

The teal eyes cracked open. Naruto suppressed a sigh of relief. If the kid's eyes were open, that meant he would be fine if Shukaku's healing capacity was anything like Kyuubi's. Horror filled them, the first emotion Naruto had really seen in them.

**_You're going to talk to him._** Kurama sounded resigned.

_I am. I doubt he knows anything, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Can you keep a sense of where those other Suna ninja are?_

**_They're keeping away. They should know better than to approach while we're still here._ **

_Even so, one of them might get brave._ "So, I guess that hurt, huh?"

**_You are awful at starting conversations._ **

_Hey! What else am I supposed to say? No matter what, I'm going to sound patronizing. At least sounding wry might not be quite as offensive._

**_My comment still stands._ **

_Fuck you._

Gaara stared at him as he gasped to get his wind back. He still looked terrified.

Naruto caught Kurama's feeling that it was a good look on him and rolled his eyes. _You are such a fathead._ "So… While I'm waiting for you to catch your breath to answer some questions for me, I guess… Hmm. Kurama says you're crazy because of Shukaku, because you were missing something to help you fight off his influence. From the scar on your forehead and the way you act, I guess that's love? If so, that's damn corny."

Gaara still didn't have the breath to reply and nodding or shaking his head was probably too agonizing to even contemplate, so Naruto turned his gaze to the trio of Suna ninja, who were obviously agitated. He could hear a woman shouting Gaara's name and then a man doing the same. The third member was calmer, silent.

"Two there are worried. They probably think I'm going to slit your throat or suck out your soul." He sighed. "I won't. Kurama wanted to beat up Shukaku, so I let him. He hardly gets to do anything since he got trapped in me, so unfortunately for you, I gotta give the poor fox something. Besides, you looked like you needed a solid fist to the face. Kurama got about six of those in." Naruto smiled fondly. "And he's gloating. Loudly. Geez, he must really like to belittle Shukaku. Bijuu are weird."

Gaara was looking more and more confused. It was a good look on him, far better than bloodthirsty and arrogant.

Naruto ruffled his hair, grinning. "So, love. Maybe that's the weakness. I've got plenty of people I love and I was always loved, so maybe that's why I'm okay. My mom loved me. She promised me before they took her away that she did. I like to think she still does, wherever she is. Your dad is the Yondaime Kazekage, right? I don't know much about him other than that he tried to start a war with Konoha. I thought my dad loved me until he took my mom away. Part of me still thinks he does, but more of me is too angry with him to care. I know he did though. And my brother… Yeah, he loved me. Heck, maybe even Jiraiya loved me, not just the idea of me being his godson. I wasn't very nice to him near the end." He sighed. "Sorry, tangent. Kurama likes to rub them in my face, but I do the same to him, so what the heck. Anyway, love." He cocked an eyebrow at Gaara, who seemed to have gotten his wind back.

"Love?" The other jinchuuriki sneered. "I don't need that."

"Hmm, if you say so. You must be lonely, being a trigger-happy psycho and all that. I can sort of relate. I miss my mom so much. I'm going to find her though. I've been looking for two years. I will find her. Even if they erased her memory, I'll find her. And if they killed her—they better not have, or I will… there will be lots of fire and pain—I'll find her grave."

Gaara couldn't seem to grasp the devotion and determination in Naruto's words.

"Anyway, enough with the pity party. Since you're a loner and you and Shukaku seem to not really get along, I don't have high hopes for this, but do you know how to separate the bijuu and the container safely? Did you ever hear anything about that?"

"Separate? Like what they do to pass the beast from one host to another?"

"No, not like that. They died. I want to live."

Gaara shook his head. "Jinchuuriki always die when the beast is drawn out to be put in the next host or into an object. All the ones before me were killed that way."

"Kami-sama," Naruto breathed, clenching a fist. "You fight for a village your whole life and your reward is to be killed by having the beast sucked out of you. How nice. I'm so glad I'm not a ninja. If you weren't a psycho, I'd offer to let you run away with me, but that sounds way too much like a book a teenaged girl would enjoy reading and you are a psycho, so no."

**_Tangent._ **

_Shut up._ "And Kurama says I'm rambling. Whatever. You don't know. Too bad. Well, Gaara, it was fun, sort of. Well… At least Kurama had fun. Maybe Shukaku did too? For two minutes? He was laughing pretty loudly until the bijuudama hit him in the gut. He's kind of fat, you know, but it still blasted right through him."

**_Please just pretend to end this conversation gracefully. Humiliate him by ruffling his bloody hair again, and let's go. I've been embarrassed enough by you today._ **

_Fine, fine._ "Alright, Gaara, it's been not so much fun, but I'm gonna split now. Hopefully your teammates or lackeys or whatever come get you, but I'm pretty sure they will; two of them are pacing like they want to dig a trench. Have a fun life." Naruto ruffled Gaara's hair again, stood up, nodded at the watching Suna trio, and dashed off south.

* * *

"Oh, it's you!" Isla, the first whore to promise to keep an eye out for Naruto's mom two years ago, grinned brightly at him when he slipped into the break room at the brothel that he had learned last year was officially known as the powder room. "I didn't know the monks were back in town."

"They're not," he said, pushing his burnoose a little higher up on his forehead as he made his way over to hug her and kiss her cheeks.

"And here I thought we'd be calling you Brother Daisuke before long! Did you run away from them?" Isla asked, squeezing his upper arms as she ushered him over to a chair.

"No, we parted ways amicably. I just finally decided that I was going to be a sailor for real."

"But you were with them for two years!" A couple girls Naruto didn't recognize shot Isla curious looks at her concerned outburst. They must have been new; they looked young enough to have just entered the trade, but Naruto knew from previous visits to this city that age didn't matter to some johns, or rather, it mattered in the worst way.

He shrugged. "I learned a lot from them, but I couldn't give my dream up. I'll have more chances to look for my aunt now."

Isla cupped his cheek. "None of us have heard anything solid since the last time you were here. Curly-haired women come and go, but none quite fit, though some match closely enough to be worth your time. I have the list for you."

"Thanks. I've got a good lump for it this time."

Isla's brows rose. "I'm surprised you made it down from the mountains with money. There's a big gang of bandits that has been hitting travellers and caravans. There's rumours that the merchants are upset enough that they hired a team of jounin and chuunin from Suna to deal with them."

Ah, so that was why Gaara had been going south. _Go figure._

Kurama snickered. **_Knowing that we took Shukaku's opportunity to sate his bloodlust after the ass-kicking I delivered just makes this day that much better, even if you did ruin it by not letting me clobber any of them._**

_If non-violent seals do the trick, that should be enough. Imagine how humiliated they'll be when they open the north gate tomorrow and find them bound with paper._ Naruto worked hard to keep his grin off his lips. "Huh. Well, they didn't bother me. Aren't you lucky?" He pulled out a wad of bills. "Six hundred."

"Six-fifty. One of the girls had to rim a client to get a name for this list."

"I'm sure she was well paid for her services," Naruto said blandly. "Six-ten."

"He was a foul client. No amount of compensation—"

"Please do not get into the hygiene of your clients with me. My poor ears! Just for that, I won't offer six-fifteen. Six-ten is as high as I'll go."

Isla sighed. "Fine."

Naruto counted out the bills and handed them over, holding out a hand for the list, but she held it higher.

"Since you won't pay me what this is worth, I want to know why you're here."

Sighing, Naruto snatched it from the woman. She was so nosy, just like a doting auntie. Oh well. "I'm really here to apprentice on a ship."

She shook her head at him. "Fool boy. I'll pray that the storms don't suck you down. You'll want to visit the east district: Devika at Yellow Silks has a list for you too. You make sure you come back here before you set off, boy. You don't want to drown a virgin, do you? We'll get the madam to give you a deal."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto tucked the note into his robes. "Whatever you say, Isla. Thanks again. Even if I don't make it back before I cast off, I promise that I'll be back when I can to ask for more lists. I'm going to find her."

"Your aunt is lucky you love her so much."

Naruto grinned. "Of course I do. Besides, it's always nice to visit with you guys. I'd stay longer, but it's a long way to the east district."

"Off with you!" Isla rubbed his burnoose as she would have ruffled his hair and swatted his back as he turned to disappear out the employee door.

* * *

Koharu-sama was with Tsunade-sama in her office discussing the wisdom of upgrading the mission office in East Port given its improved performance in recent months when Dragon–1 poofed into the room. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him. "What's so pressing that it couldn't wait?"

"The fox boy battled against Suna's jinchuuriki, apparently unprovoked."

Koharu-sama gaped and then frowned at him. "Fool! Did he survive? Does Suna know?"

"Gaara was with his siblings and the jounin Mukade. They were on their way south to a mission near Port Mure, apparently. The boy was waiting for him a few kilometres north of the Fence Mountains. Gaara took on Shukaku's form, but the boy used four tails and defeated him. He spoke to him afterward and ran south. Agents in Port Mure have yet to report in on whether he showed up there."

Dragon–1 was nowhere near as calm as he pretended in front of his Hokage. This was a disaster. Would Suna construe this as an attack? Had Naruto claimed to not be from Konoha? Both options would be equally damaging for different reasons.

Tsunade-sama slammed her fist down on her desk. "Shit! That boy, he's a loose cannon. We can't leave him out there any longer."

Dragon–1 cleared his throat.

"There's more?" she growled, her pale brown eyes narrowed.

"Yes, Godaime-sama. The group of Suna ninja was attacked shortly afterwards on their way through the Fence Mountains; presumably they were continuing to Port Mure to obtain medical attention for Gaara and begin their mission. The agent stumbled across the corpses of Temari and Kankurou of the Sand after detecting signs of a battle. There was no sign or Gaara or Mukade."

She glanced at Koharu-sama. "This is a good opportunity to make amends for that little shit's attack."

Sarutobi-sama's former teammate nodded. Dragon–1 was glad this woman had survived Orochimaru's attack twenty-two months ago even if Sarutobi-sama had not: while not as _good_ as Sandaime-sama, she had sense and was calm enough to even out Tsunade-sama's temper and brashness. "It would be wise to immediately authorize a couple teams to aid Suna in hunting down Gaara and Mukade."

Tsunade-sama nodded. "Send word to our best hunters in Port Mure to leave their work to their fellow agents and head north to begin searching immediately. We've got forty-eight hours to try to make this right. Get someone in Wind to get the news to Suna in case they haven't heard already, but tell them to be careful about how they phrase it. The last thing we need is to be accused of abducting their jinchuuriki too."

"Tsunade, you'd better let me draft that message," Koharu-sama interjected as Dragon–1 called in a lower Dragon to carry the orders back to HQ.

Tsunade-sama narrowed her eyes but nodded. The old woman shuffled out the door as Tsunade whipped around to glare out the window at Konoha.

Dragon–72 disappeared to get things rolling.

Tsunade turned to Dragon–1. "That kid. What are we going to do with him? He's your and Hiruzen-sensei's mess. Why on earth would he attack randomly like this?"

"Hokage-sama, I recommend that you send him a reprimand through the journal. See if he responds. Itachi reported the boy and Kyuubi are probably working together to some degree; it is possible that Kyuubi instigated this somehow. Also, the boy was ordered to attack Gaara on Itachi's signal during the talks two years ago. Perhaps he was acting on that. If you wish to collar him, the first thing is to pin him down again. Rat–67 reported that he always talked about wanting to be a sailor…"

* * *

The sight of the freshly painted spiral leaf on what was presumably a mission office on East Port's main drag made Hikaru's eyes narrow slightly because it reminded him of that old hag's words. What right did she have to tell him what to do? He had _told_ Gaara he wasn't a Konoha ninja, so it wasn't as if Konoha should have been blamed. Well, it would have worked if Gaara hadn't been captured later that day, but how could they expect him to have known that would happen? Hikaru had yet to bother explaining this to the hag. He didn't owe her an explanation even if she had replaced Sarutobi as Hokage; he wasn't one of her obedient little ninja just waiting for her to say "jump".

It still made him feel guilty though; if he hadn't let Kurama fight Shukaku, maybe Gaara could have defended himself… Gaara's empty corpse had been found according to rumours the whores had whispered in Tea Country's Degarashi Port, and his siblings—the two ninja that Naruto had heard calling Gaara's name after their fight—had been killed when he had been taken. The other jounin with them had apparently been a traitor. The Yondaime Kazekage was speculated to be beside himself with grief.

And who knew where Shukaku was.

Worse, Hikaru had just stopped by three brothels here, making contacts among the whores to aid him in his search for his mom, and every place was abuzz with the news that one of Kumo's vile jinchuuriki had been found dead only a couple weeks ago: Nii Yugito.

That meant Nibi was gone too.

**_If they did kill them, we do regenerate in a few years. We can't stay dead for long; we have duties to fulfill._ **

_And what if they didn't kill them?_

**_What could they do to them that has not already been done to them by Suna and Kumo?_ **

_I don't know, Ku-man. But that's two now. "One is an isolated event, but two points is all you need to find the equation of a line" is what my dad used to say. Worse, they were in order: one then two. I don't trust that rumour about Shichibi, so… If that holds, we've got time, but, shit, this could be really bad. We should change ships when we drop the cargo in Inakara. I should have my ticket by then. I can get work as an able-bodied seaman and start working my way up, changing henge as we hop ships._

**_Are you going to age yourself? Hikaru is younger._ **

_Easier to get accepted on the_ Yellowfin _; they wanted somebody younger. But, yeah, I'll age up. I want to make captain before the next year is out. It'd be hard to do it if I looked like a fifteen-year-old._

**_I'm just glad you figured out how to maintain your henge and genjutsu with seals disguised as tattoos. You were so irritating on the way to Port Mure from Fools Port the last time we did this._ **

_I like my sleep, which is why I made time for that side project._ Hikaru paused at a stall to buy a couple pears with his meagre wages. He was so happy that he didn't have to steal; it was nice to feel like he had contributed to society—at Wind Temple, he had often felt like a freeloader since Kurama was the one giving the monks what they wanted in return for their help. _Kurama,_ he mentally whispered, which was harder than it sounded, _what if we don't find anything?_

**_On how to separate us?_ **

_Yeah. I really want to, trust me. I mean, it's great being able to talk to you and work with you, but I know it must be so shitty to be trapped in my subconsciousness. But I don't want to die at fifteen to set you free. I'm sorry._

Kurama was silent for a long time. **_We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. You should start heading back to the ship._**

_Yeah. I just wanted to see East Port. It's a lot busier and cleaner than I remember it being. I guess trade opening up with Lightning and Hot Spring again with the war's end has made things better on this coast._

**_You're right. It doesn't call to me as loudly anymore. Better souls have come here._ **

Frowning, Hikaru let that remark pass without comment. It was simply too telling, and he had a ship to get to.

* * *

"Storm ho!"

Hikaru scrambled out of his hammock (apprentices didn't rate bunks) and joined the press up to the deck.

"Haul up the sails!" Many other commands followed, but Hikaru ignored them. They weren't meant for him. Those in charge of the mainmast were singing the favourite shanty of the _Yellowfin_ 's crew.

'Twas a Friday morn when we set sail and we were not far from land

Our captain, he spied a mer-i-maid so fair with a comb and a spyglass in her hand

Oh the ocean waves do roll

And the stormy winds do blow

Aye, and we poor sailors are skipping at the top

And the landlubbers lie down below below below

And the landlubbers lie down below

Well up spoke the captain of our gallant ship, and a fine spoken man was he

"This fishy mermaid has warned me of our doom. We shall sink to the bottom of the sea"

Oh the ocean waves do roll…

He joined the crew handling the fore upper topsail, joining those heaving the lines and coiling and stowing them neatly on the bitts once the rest of his group went aloft to furl the sails completely. Once the foredeck was squared, Hikaru went to the port rail, making certain to stay out of everyone's way and watching the dark clouds with their rainy veils sweeping over the dark water prowl ever closer.

Well up spoke a sailor of our gallant ship, and secretly a maiden was she

She says "I never had the chance to lay a sailor man, so I shall die with my virginity"

Oh the ocean waves do roll

And the stormy winds do blow

Aye, and we poor sailors are skipping at the top

And the landlubbers lie down below below below

And the landlubbers lie down below

Well one time 'round spun our gallant ship, and two times 'round went she

Then three times 'round spun our gallant ship and she sank to the bottom of the sea

Hikaru grinned, showing his teeth to the mounting waves. _This is going to be awesome!_

**_Have I mentioned how much I hate you lately?_ **

Ignoring the poor fox, Hikaru whooped as the first real wave made them ride its swell.

Oh the ocean waves do roll

And the stormy winds do blow

Aye, and we poor sailors are skipping at the top

And the landlubbers lie down below below below

And the landlubbers lie down below!

* * *

Inakara City, the jewel of the Mirror Gulf, so named because the string of islands on its eastern reaches guarded it from the capricious storms of the Treatise Sea, appeared off the starboard bough. Hikaru, hanging off the shrouds to while away a rare spare moment, narrowed his eyes at Lightning's southern coastline. He knew he was prejudiced against the nation—they had blinded a little girl, the monsters, and demanded her father's corpse. He rationally understood this was propaganda though. He was pretty damn sure that Konoha had crafted this sob story to make themselves look good as the war became more and more unpopular with the rest of Fire.

He wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that the Hyuuga girl did have both eyes and wasn't blind at all. He also wouldn't be surprised if the corpse that Kumo had rejected because it had had no eyes had not been so eyeless. He knew about the Hyuuga and their sick system of clan government. The rest of Fire, however, did not and had had to be given some reason for why the damn ninja up north wouldn't stop attacking.

**_They all lie, boy._ **

_I know. Why do you think I ran away with you? They always said that someone else killed my parents. Sarutobi wrote it in the journal at least twenty times, warning that I had to be good, keep quiet, and train because the people who killed my parents were coming for me. But it was you._

**_He watched me do it. Like I said, a liar._ **

_That's what politics is, I guess. When I have my own ship, I'm gonna go as far as I can. I'll find places no one has ever been too. Maybe I'll find a land without lies._

**_Hmm._ **

_What's that supposed to mean?_

**_Maybe I'll tell you someday. Get off the rope contraption; the captain is drawing breath to shout more gibberish commands in your peripheral vision._ **

_You can't tell me you haven't figured out what they all mean by now._

**_I am not wasting any of my precious time trying to learn your language oddities. Hop to it, boy._ **

* * *

"The biggest rumour going around right now is that a cat woman is waiting to speak to whoever is searching for the secrets of separation at a certain brothel. The rumour's been hanging around for the past month and a half." The black-haired whore trailed her fingers over Jun's pockmarked cheek. She was sort of pretty in a gaunt, angular way, but Jun wasn't here to get laid and the whore knew it. Still, they played the game.

This was his fourth brothel of the night, and he had been fed this same rumour a dozen different ways along with a whole bunch of other gossip he didn't give a shit about. "Where on earth would they keep a cat woman?" he asked as he carded fingers through her hair.

"The Silver Tambourine. It's on the west edge of the city," she whispered in his ear as he traced his nose down to her pulse point.

"Thanks, love," he whispered back, pressing a roll of bills beneath her bra strap before pulling back, rising, and gallantly kissing the back of her hand. "I would stay, but I have to go see a man about a dog."

"Of course," she purred, pulling her hand back with excellently acted reluctance.

He bowed with a flourish as other girls not in the midst of reeling in a john in the front room of the brothel glanced at his antics. His girl smiled sinfully and rose to find another client as Jun turned to head out the door, working desperately to keep a straight face as Kurama sniggered in his head.

**_I cannot believe these vixens buy that._ **

_Oh, I'm sure they don't. Still, it's always nice to be nice to people._

**_You call that being nice to people, huh? And what's that down in your pants?_ **

_Kami-sama! Give me a break! I'm fifteen. Tap water could turn me on. You could plug your ears and hum like you do when I jack off._

**_Ugh, please do not mention your unnatural libido any further._ **

_You're the one that brought it up, Ku-man._

**_Again with the fucking name!_ **

Jun couldn't help but snicker quietly. Kurama was in fine form tonight. _Okay, enough dicking around—_

**_Now who's being tasteless?_ **

_—we have work to do. So, this rumour. Cat woman is Nibi, agreed?_

**_Except we heard she was dead in East Port._ **

_Yeah, so there are a few possibilities. One, she faked her death somehow. Two, Kumo faked her death somehow. Three, she is dead and someone is planting bait for us._

**_The last is most likely. She was the first one we asked about separating. Likely she reported that to her village along with everything else._ **

_Yeah. So, what do we do? Would Kumo be stupid enough to try to bait me knowing that the rumour of Nii Yugito's death is all over the place?_

**_If you do go, then yes._ **

_Should we not go? Do you think it's too risky?_

**_We go._ **

_Are you sure? I mean, I trust you to blast your way out of anything, but what if this is sneakier?_

**_We are immune to genjutsu: if you are caught, I'll break you free. They cannot snare both of us. My chakra is nestled deep inside you, so they can't disturb it._ **

_And a barrier?_

**_I can buy us time while you bore a hole through the seal with your own. I made you take that scroll on barrier breaking from Wind Temple for a reason. We will figure things out as they come. I want the information if it is there. No more stalling._ **

_Okay. I think this is asking for it, for the record, but I promised, so here we go._

**_Your word is your honour and all that._ **

_What?_

**Dictum meum pactum.** **_My word is my bond. It is a common theme. It essentially means the promise before all else, to fulfill the words spoken._ **

_… Did we spend too long at the temple?_

**_Just go._ **

_Right._


	16. Chapter 16

"A masked man."

Itachi whipped around to stare at his mother, suds clinging to his hands from washing the lunch dishes. "Pardon?"

"Someone finally spotted a man with an orange mask with Akatsuki," Mikoto said from where she was leafing through reports. "He doesn't wear their uniform, but he was definitely with them. Same height. Only the right eyehole in the mask—that has to mean something: no one blocks their peripheral vision for no reason… Perhaps he only has the one eye? Or he has an eye that must be concealed, the way Kakashi-kun covers Obito's Sharingan… No confirmed sighting of the Sharingan, but the report says the chakra tasted like an Uchiha's."

"Damn." Itachi turned back to the dishes.

"Tsunade-sama isn't like the Sandaime—she doesn't like Danzou's influence and is pushing him aside as quickly as she can. She will accept our proof. She's too straightforward to deal with the leveraging of our services the way Sarutobi-sama did." He heard his mother sigh. "Too late though."

"Father hasn't ordered a move yet."

"It's only a matter of time. He's wise to our stalling now."

"What do I need to do?" he asked, rinsing off his hands and moving to kneel on his cushion at the table. "What sign does he need? I have this still." He wrapped his fingers around the Shodaime's necklace. "I'm still walking despite the curse. People talk about me now rather than whisper. The vandalism has slowed."

"Tsunade-sama needs to give an obvious nod to you. Up to now, she has continued making half-assed attempts to steal the necklace back. It undermines the symbolism. Get her to stop. Get her to smile upon you and we might yet keep your father from shooting himself in the foot."

* * *

Naruto wore a blend between Isla and his mother's forms to the Silver Tambourine. Curly blond ringlets. Trim form with generous hips. A chest with enough of a curve to be considered a chest by most.

He had never felt so creepy while wearing a woman's body before, but he wanted something familiar when walking into what was probably a trap.

He didn't create a role for himself; he didn't even give himself a woman's name. No, this was just a mask.

The Silver Tambourine was a sturdy if inelegant building plunked between a tattoo parlour and a teashop that probably played host to back room deals. He let himself in the back entrance, familiar enough with the layout of brothels that he had no trouble locating the powder room. An older woman was touching up her eyeliner when she spotted him in the mirror.

With a yelp, she dropped the pencil and spun to face him. "Who are you?"

"I'm looking for the cat woman."

The prostitute's jaw dropped. It took her a few seconds, but she collected herself. "Upstairs. Room 3."

"Does it have a view?"

The woman's brow furrowed. "Um, I guess. You can see the back lot from it."

"Huh." Naruto swept past her and found the back stairway. _Can you sense any ill intent?_

**_No._ **

_Is that a good sign?_

**_Yes. Ill intent cannot be hidden the way chakra can be suppressed. It seethes in a person. There is despair here, but it is not meant for us._ **

Naruto finished his climb and moved cautiously along the hallway, picking the room numbers out in the gloom. Once he found 3, he headed back downstairs.

_"Never enter a room the way they expect you to," Dad always said._ He slipped out the employee door exactly as he had come in and located the window of the room. He then scaled the building across the street and began laying out tags in a wide circle around the Silver Tambourine. If Kurama was going to have to go all out, he didn't want to set all of Inakara ablaze. The circle would keep the fighting contained, or so he hoped. As he worked, he noted the whore that had given him the room number slipping out of the brothel with a few other women. A few pairs slipped out the back door.

**_Whoever is here has the same idea as you. Still no ill will._ **

_We're going in._ He scaled the back of the Silver Tambourine with ease and touched a paper seal to the window. The glass pane dissolved into mist and soot as he pressed back against the wall, waiting for an attack.

Nothing.

Taking a deep breath, he slipped in through the empty pane and immediately crouched beneath the sill to make sure he wouldn't be silhouetted against the faint light from outside.

"Get up," said a familiar voice. Nii Yugito was sitting on the four-poster bed, her legs crossed, illuminated by the weak light of a bedside lamp.

_Sense Nibi?_

**_No._ **

"Where's Nibi?"

"Gone."

"Bullshit. You told me it couldn't be done. Who are you?"

**_Seal net. Strong one. Notice the "cracks" in the ceiling._ **

_Shit._ Naruto tried sticking a hand back through the empty window, but it hit a field. _Double shit. Trade!_ Naruto shut his eyes in preparation to hand control over to Kurama.

"Kid, stop."

Jiraiya. Nii Yugito's form dissolved to reveal the old perv.

"You." Naruto was taken aback. He hadn't expected Konoha people. "How did you find me?"

"It was more that we never really lost you," Jiraiya said.

"Bluff. I definitely lost you after the Red City."

"We found your scent eventually. Besides, we have plenty of people in Port Mure. And we keep an eye on Wind Temple."

_Shit._

"Kid, I'm not here to trap you, but I am not releasing this barrier until you let me talk."

"Talk then." _Can you spot all the symbols?_

**_He probably had plenty of time to hide some under the carpets._ **

_Fuck. It's harder to break without knowing all of the design—_

"I have the key to your seal here. Well, not right here, but I can bring it here."

Naruto could feel Kurama's full attention focusing on Jiraiya. "And?" he asked.

"I'll give it to you if you come with me back to Konoha."

**_No._ **

_Really? I mean, I agree, but I thought you really wanted it._

**_We can bargain him down._ **

"No. We won't go there. I'll give you two favours."

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow. "Favours."

Naruto nodded. "Two requests. So long as Kyuubi and I agree they don't hinder our purpose (and if they do, they don't count), we'll do whatever you ask."

The old perv shook his head. "Kid, would it really be so bad to just go there? Your dad and brother are there."

"My mom told me once that we weren't strong enough to do whatever we wanted when I told her I wanted to be a captain. She was right; she wasn't strong enough to make them let her stay with me, but she didn't really try, didn't fight for it, so she lost before she started. I'm different. I'm gonna go for it with everything I've got. No one ever asked me if I wanted to be a ninja. You all just assumed and brushed me aside when I told you differently. I don't like fighting, so I'm not going to do it unless I have to."

Sighing, Jiraiya nodded. "Five favours."

"It's just a key."

"I know you haven't managed to break through the seal yet, even with the 'help' of the monks at Wind Temple."

There was no way the monks that worshiped Kurama so reverently would dare try to swindle him. Jiraiya had to be lying. "Five is too many. I offered you two, which is more than fair."

"Five is barely what this is worth. Your father died writing this key. Ten would be a fairer trade."

Naruto shut his eyes. Kurama's aura burst forward in a surge of red chakra and snarled, a shockwave knocking the toad hermit back on the bed. "Five is as high as we go," they rasped.

Naruto winced at the way Jiraiya regarded them. It was respect, but not a good kind. "Five then, kid. Stop hurting yourself."

Kurama's chakra cloak slipped back and Naruto's skin was just pale again. Kurama always broke his henge when he came out. It was particularly annoying this time because he could see how nostalgic it made his dad's old teacher to see him as he was beneath the layers of roles he had worn over the years.

"My first request is this." Jiraiya tossed something at him.

Naruto snatched it out of the air. A metal plate on a bit of cloth. Itachi had worn one of these.

"It's a Konoha headband. It shows you're ours. You claim you're from Konoha and you pull that out if necessary."

Naruto sneered at the Konoha leaf. _Well?_

**_If we must._ **

"Okay. I'm only going to wear it if you use another favour up though."

"So long as you've got it, kid."

Naruto tucked it in his kunai pouch. "The key, old man."

"A few things you need to know first. You got time to listen?"

With a sigh, Naruto settled down. "Go ahead."

"With this, you unlock Kyuubi. You allow his will to come forth with his chakra, though it seems you're already doing that pretty freely. The point is to filter out his will and just use the chakra. If you let his will come out too, he will consume you. It will just be him, no you anymore. You've got to pull the chakra from him and take it. That way he stays in you and you've got control, or at least you've mostly got control. Kushina said that Kyuubi wasn't cooperative, so there were lots of things that were too dangerous to try. He can do lots to undermine you. But with control of the chakra without Kyuubi's will attached, you'll reach a higher level."

Doubt slithered coldly into Naruto's belly. Kurama… Would Kurama do that to him—consume him—after everything? He trusted the fox: he liked the guy and his odd sense of humour and his quick temper and his hero worship of the Six Paths Sage. But Kurama had always been about getting free, especially recently. He wasn't sure that destroying him would even really phase Kurama.

**_Take it._ **

_We're going to talk before we use it._

**_Fine._ **

"Okay, got it." He granted Jiraiya a smile and a nod.

"Kid, I know you want to let him out. But you don't understand how destructive he was—"

"I do. I know. But he's not just a thing, a power source. He's a person; granted, one with really big ears, but the hag has backbreaking jugs—we can't discriminate based on unfortunate physical attributes—"

"'Unfortunate'! Brat, do you even know what you're saying—?"

**_Kid, I'm a kitsune; ears are part of the package!_ **

Naruto suppressed his grin. This really wasn't the time for cracking jokes, but it was satisfying to be able to tick the perv and the fox off at the same time. "I don't want to be his prison. The key, old man, or I toss this headband back and we bust out of here with sheer destructive force."

Grimacing, the old jounin clasped his hands together and opened his mouth.

"Kami-sama! That's sick, pervy sage!" Naruto shouted as an impossibly long toad climbed out of Jiraiya's throat.

"Who are you calling sick?" demanded the toad grouchily, glancing around the room.

"Gerotora, this is the kid." Jiraiya gestured at Naruto, who had jumped to his feet and pressed into the far corner.

"Huh. I can see the resemblance. I thought the point was to keep the key and the seal separated though."

"He's gonna be signing it."

"What! But, he's what, only fifteen or so? There's no way he's ready. Besides, didn't you tell me that he ran away before you could train him?"

"He's traded for it."

"This isn't a good idea," the toad said, but he allowed the scroll that was his belly to be unfurled. Naruto couldn't see its contents, just the backing, but Jiraiya pressed his hand to it.

"Okay, kid, your turn. But first, you gotta promise that if you do go through with this, you make sure you're far away from people. You'll be responsible for every death if Kyuubi beats you."

"I promise," Naruto said sincerely. "I won't let others pay if I'm wrong."

"Okay. Come here." He had Gerotora turn so Naruto could see the lines of the seal that made up the key. It was strangely artistic, almost abstract. "Minato was supposed to be the child of prophecy, the one who would bring about a new age. He died, but I think he died believing that you would take his place."

Naruto almost laughed—really, that had to be the most cliché thing he had heard all year—but Jiraiya was serious. Kami-sama, ninja were so weird. He nodded so as to not hurt the old man's feelings.

"You need to fill your fingertips with chakra—it's a chakra-based signature. Touch inside the box there. You'll be allowed access to the key's power to both open and close the seal, which acts as a valve on the Kyuubi's chakra. Righty tighty, lefty loosey."

Naruto pressed his fingertips down. "Do I need to keep the key too?"

"Yes. I'd need to go down—" began Gerotora.

"I don't think so," Naruto said quickly. "You won't like what you'll find down there."

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow. "It's safest to keep him in you."

"I'm already sharing my body with a fox. I don't want a toad in my stomach. What if I actually digest him?"

Gerotora shot him an incredulous look and turned back to Jiraiya. "Really? You're leaving me with him?"

"Will you let me keep him, then?" the old ninja offered. "You have access now that you've signed. If something goes wrong… Well, it's unlikely, but I might be able to pull you back out."

Naruto didn't even stop to think. "No. I'll take it. Bloody hell."

After Naruto redid his signature on Jiraiya's oversized toad summoning scroll with fresh blood over the ashes of his first one, he braced himself and opened wide. With a final _look_ for Jiraiya, Gerotora began clambering into Naruto's mouth. _Oh kami-sama. Oh kami-sama. Oh kami-sama._

**_Oh shut up, you wimp. I swallow a load of volatile chakra every time I want to spit out a bijuudama. You can swallow a little toad._ **

_You are so mean. This has to be way worse!_ Jiraiya pushed from the back end when it was obvious Gerotora had gotten stuck somewhere around what should have been Naruto's cardiac sphincter. With a massive heave, the toad disappeared into whatever portal his throat somehow opened to for the creatures. Naruto did not quite manage to quell his need to gag, bracing his hands on his knees.

Jiraiya patted his back but didn't hold back snickers.

"Okay," Naruto said as he managed to straighten up only to sock Jiraiya in the gut. "Now, where the fuck is my mom, you liar."

Skidding backwards a couple feet, the old man regarded him, his face a mask of betrayal. "I didn't know the plan had changed. She was supposed to go to Port Mure. I don't know where she is. Only Takashi knows."

"Well, that's something. Where is my dad these days?"

"Dealing with a trio of brats. They made him a jounin sensei."

He allowed the faintest traces of a smile onto his lips. "I'm sure he's thrilled, not. He's a good teacher though; I just wasn't a good student a lot of the time. Is he usually in Konoha?"

"Out running missions. It's hard to pin him down."

"Hmm. Alright, I guess we're done here then. It was good doing business with you, you old perv. You need to pick a different location in future though. The poor whores can't be happy with you endangering their establishment."

"Nah. How else would I get messages to you?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that comment but let it go. "You tell that old hag that she has no right to boss me around unless she wants to use up those four favours. I told Gaara I wasn't acting for Konoha."

"He died before Suna got the message, unfortunately. It could have been a pretty ugly diplomatic incident. Try to restrain yourself, huh?"

"I went after Gaara for two reasons: Kyuubi asked and because I thought Gaara could take it—he had Shukaku. I let Kyuubi go through with it because Gaara was a psycho that needed a good fist to the face that Kyuubi was good for."

The old ninja put a no-nonsense look on his face. "The jinchuuriki happen to be kind of a big deal in village politics. You've been told this. Because everyone knows Kyuubi belongs to Konoha, all of your actions reflect on us, whether you mean them to or not. Konoha isn't just a village full of ninja. There are kids and civilian families there too; it's just like your old village except there's no ocean. Think on that before you go off and do something that's going to put Konoha in a dangerous position." Allowing a wry grin to twist his lips, Jiraiya continued, "You're right about Gaara though: he was a dangerous kid. It's a pity he didn't live long enough for Kyuubi's punches to have an effect."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah. I really didn't know that someone was going to attack him. I mean, I ran that way just before them, and the worst thing I ran into was a bunch of smelly bandits that thought they were going to rob me. Was it Akatsuki?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Suna has put a hit on anyone affiliated with the group. From the evidence found at the battle site, it looks like a former Iwa-nin and a poison master were involved. Here." He tossed a book with the Leaf on the cover over. "Check out page 158."

Naruto flipped through and came upon a man with long blond hair. His bounty had a lot of zeros attached to it. So Konoha had a price on this guy too. Naruto wondered if it predated the attack on Gaara. Konoha had been pretty proactive about keeping an eye on Akatsuki, some deal with the Uchiha. "Deidara?"

"Yup. Specializes in explosives."

"And the poison expert?"

"We're not sure. Gaara's corpse was abandoned at a hideout in River; they've found evidence he was killed by having the bijuu drawn out of him. Scent specialists found traces of oils commonly used in mechanical applications as well as some interesting seasoned wood. There's a lot of possibilities. You sure you want to face these guys alone, kid?"

Naruto raised his chin. "I'm never alone. I've got the best partner a guy can ask for, even if he gets irritated pretty easily. He's got an awesome bunch of stories though. You'd like them, well, maybe. Kyuubi doesn't care about sex or romance, so you'd probably get bored. They're all about a sage like you."

Jiraiya studied him for a long time before, inexplicably, he smiled fondly. "Okay, kid. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. You're a snotty, ungrateful little shit, but maybe that's the way you need to be. We'll see. I've never written my protagonist as an antihero before, but there's always a first time." He ran through a couple handseals and gestured to the window. "Drop by Konoha someday, huh? I think you'll find it rewarding. At the very least, you should visit your mom's house."

Arching an eyebrow, Naruto cocked his head. "Why would visiting the Uzumaki house matter?"

Jiraiya just smiled, though it was tinged with a trace of melancholy.

Rolling his eyes at the old jounin's coy hints, Naruto stuck his hand through the window, relieved to find that the barrier was no longer active.

"Good luck, brat. If we don't meet again, know that I respect that you're following your own path, even if it's not the path I want for you. I hope you make a great captain, as your godfather."

Something twisted in Naruto's chest. Jiraiya had visited his family for so many years and had taught him so many things. It felt wrong to keep being so angry at this man who claimed to only want the best for him. Sucking in a deep breath, Naruto turned back around to face Jiraiya and held out his hand. A blue swirling mass of chakra appeared in it.

"Rasengan." Jiraiya looked so proud that Naruto knew showing this had been better than a hug for the ninja. He went through some handseals: tiger, hare, boar, dog. An earthen pillar rose out of the centre of the rug. "Prove it's done."

Naruto slammed the sphere of chaos into the pillar, drilling into it and then shattering it into fragments as the containment released the explosive force previously held in check.

"Hah! I'm glad."

"See you around, you old perv," Naruto said before darting out the window.

* * *

Jiraiya watched the kid go, an ache in his chest and a smile on his face. "Minato, I don't think this is going how you intended, but we might still be okay. He'll never be the golden hero you were, but he might still get the job done if poked and prodded the right way. If we're clever, we'll get him to save us all against his will. Won't that just piss him off?"

Shaking his head, he summoned a toad and climbed down its throat to emerge in one of the ponds in Konoha. Shaking the water off his geta, he headed towards Admin and slipped into Tsunade's office without trouble.

"You're back early," Tsunade noted, pulling a sake dish and bottle out of the top drawer of her desk and leaning back in her chair.

"The _Yellowfin_ must have gotten good winds; they were a week early into port."

"So?"

Jiraiya leaned back against the windowsill. "Like I told you, the fox is cooperating with him."

"I figured that out when our man at Wind Temple didn't have to keep those heretic monks from 'saving' Kyuubi from the boy. That's why I let him stay there. What I want to know is why he isn't with you now. I told you to bring him back."

"They really didn't want to come."

"I don't _care_ what they want!"

"Look, if the fox _isn't_ just playing Naruto, he could become an even more powerful jinchuuriki than B. Minato wouldn't have sent me the key for no reason. To repair the seal, yes, but he included the ability to remove the seal as well." Jiraiya leaned forward, tapping the desk in accompaniment with his point. "I believe he meant for Naruto to steal the Kyuubi's chakra, to take full control of the potential. He can only do that by removing the current seal. And if they're cooperating…"

Tsunade nodded slowly. "He wouldn't need to fight for control. They would share it. Is that supposed to be reassuring?"

"Better him than sealing the Kyuubi into another ninja and letting the fox's wrath destabilize an otherwise useful man."

"Don't think I can't tell the difference between when you're making a valid argument and trying to protect your godson. Even an unstable jinchuuriki would be better than one that won't obey!"

Jiraiya grinned. "Ah, but you've got that favour from Itachi. And four more. He can be directed. I used one up making him carry a Leaf headband and promise to claim he's ours. The only stipulation on your new favours is that if he and the fox decide the request doesn't work for them, they'll deny it but let you keep the favour. You could ask for more favours easily."

"And what if Kurama and the boy decide their purpose is to destroy Konoha?" Tsunade sipped her sake as Jiraiya glared. "It's a valid question. He ran from us. He endangered us all by attacking Shukaku. Kyuubi hates Konoha. Who's to say the boy won't decide to bow to that whim?"

"You know what Itachi reported about how the beast hates Uchiha."

"All the more reason for them to wipe the clan off the map. More have been going missing. What if it's not Orochimaru? What if it's the boy? He was out of the temple during a couple disappearances."

"Not all of them." Jiraiya shook his head. "He still loves Tenzou and Takashi. He won't attack Konoha. If worst comes to worst, tell him about his mom."

She slowly nodded. "I'm sending that team to guard him while he breaks the seal. Itachi and Shisui are almost loyal enough that I trust them to subdue the fox if the worst happens. Tenzou—"

"I wouldn't," Jiraiya cautioned. "If Naruto finds out about his mom too soon—and he will pry the knowledge out of Tenzou—there's no telling what he'll do. Hold onto that card."

"I need people on that team to watch the Uchiha. Itachi and Shisui are as trustworthy as Uchiha come, but this is their clan. I'm not sure which way they'll jump when things come to a head."

_When._ Three years ago, it had been 'if' when Itachi had first started parading around with the necklace. Jiraiya had given up trying to convince her to make the obvious gesture to ease the tension. She was right: could that man be trusted with Konoha? He had gotten sent on every major diplomatic mission for the past three years and was as capable as his cousin despite having weaker eyes, but there was just something about Itachi… The kid was serious about the rift between the clan and the village though: he had moved out the Uchiha section, somehow managing to find someone willing to let him sign a lease. "How about Kakashi? With his Sharingan, he'll be better equipped to counter theirs than anyone else."

She nodded slowly, considering. "And a Hyuuga with a good range. If Kyuubi does start rampaging, they'll need to see if Akatsuki's coming." Tsunade nodded, the matter closed. "Where will he break the seal? I wouldn't be unhappy if Kyuubi rampaged in Lightning, but I'd rather there was more distance between it and Konoha."

"He promised to find somewhere isolated." They sat quietly, both thinking too much about how this could so easily go so wrong. "I'm going to Rain to follow up that lead on the group called Akatsuki there. It's about time we found out if they are connected to the Akatsuki group operating outside of Rain."

"Be careful. You know they say that Pain killed Hanzou by himself."

Jiraiya chuckled, putting up a front of joviality, anything to keep that worried look off Tsunade's face. "Hanzou had to be getting old and fat by then."

"No one's seen Pain since. Just that paper user, God's Angel."

Jiraiya's heart ached again. "Don't worry. I have the feeling I'll find them both. You can bet on it."

* * *

Naruto pulled a map from under his pillow and studied his situation again. He was currently in a little tourist village called Juujiro about a day's travel northwest of Inakara.

He had to be super careful; Kumo wasn't too far from here, though it was north of the northern half of the mountains framing this old valley. It would suck if he got caught by Kumo so soon after walking into Konoha's trap. He wasn't sure his ego would survive two epic fails in one week.

He was heading for the North Sea, which stretched between Lightning and Earth and touched all the little nations north of Fire. In the northern reaches of the bay, ice floes bobbed, pieces broken off of the ice sheet covering the landmasses even further north. It had had some of the worst storms on earth ever since the civil war had broken out in Water, oddly.

A Konoha sensor ninja claimed to have sensed Sanbi off Rice's coast, which would explain that.

Naruto was determined not to think about how if Kurama did consume him, he might delay the fox by having Sanbi fight him. Instead, he focused on how sitting on an ice floe while using the key would probably be isolated enough to satisfy Jiraiya.

**_You're being quiet._ **

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes only to open them in the chamber. "Hey. Sorry. I've just been thinking."

**"You think I'm going to betray you."**

He didn't bother trying to suppress a wry grin. "If I was in your place, I probably would."

**"You would not. Your word is your bond. You promised me you'd work towards my freedom. You walked away from Konoha, from everything you've ever known, and went looking for answers. And here we are, key in hand, which is a start, if not the solution."** Kurama had his tails all together, curled around his haunches as he rested his jaw on his crossed paws. His huge slitted red eyes watched Naruto under partly lowered lids. Kurama looked, in a word, tired.

"True."

**"But you still doubt me. I have been on this earth for ages, so many hundreds of years. I have watched millions of beings be born, live and struggle, and then die, from the lowest ant to the greatest sage. Only eight have ever always been there: my brothers and sisters. You know we don't get along. You are the human I have talked the most with since the Sage left us. Do you know what most humans try to do when they meet me?"**

"Kill you, since most of them probably never saw you until you came for their town."

**"Yes. And when ninja or monks came hunting me, it was the same. Always the same. Humans are selfish; they see anything that kills humans as a monster to be eliminated. None of them cared about why, why I would bother wasting time wiping an entire village of worthless humans off a map. None of them ever bothered introducing themselves."** Kurama exhaled, his breath increasing the room's humidity. **"That's why you and Itachi are interesting."**

Forcing himself not to react to the usual slights against his species, Naruto strode through the bars of the cage and sat down in the water next to Kurama's paw, leaning back against it. The fox's breaths ruffled his hair. "I just want you to be free," he whispered. "I just wish it didn't seem to mean I have to die. I don't want to leave you alone in that world out there. It's so hard to be alone. I would have gone crazy if you hadn't been here. I hate that Jiraiya's words make me doubt you. I've trusted you for so long. It's almost like he told me that my mom secretly hated me and asked Dad to help her escape me."

**"That sounds extreme."**

"It's like that though. I can't believe it. But some traitorous part of me wonders why she didn't try to fight it."

Kurama pushed Naruto over with a casual flick of his paw and a halfhearted growl. **"Use your fucking brain. She knew Mamoru was skilled enough to block her every attempt and that trying would probably get her separated from you even sooner. She loved you. Now stop being so pathetic and sappy. Get up. If you want to freeze your ass off so we can use the key, hurry up and get us to the damn floating ice cube."**

Opening his eyes to the real world, Naruto pulled the journal out of his pack to complete his morning ritual.

There was a message.

_Yuji,_

_Five for silver_

_I need to know where and when you're going to use the key. I am bringing a team to supervise. You will allow me and my team to be nearby and you will wait until I am there to go through with using the key. We will leave you alone afterwards if you wish._

_Seven for a secret never to be told._


	17. Chapter 17

Naruto refused to steal a ship, even one as small as a single-masted sloop or a rowboat, so he ended up nabbing three watertight casks, three poles, and a thick watertight sheet. He rigged up a small trampoline-like structure with the casks attached to the poles to make it float and sealed it in a small scroll. From the distances on the map, it didn't look like he'd be able to make the run to even the nearest ice floe in less than two days; thus, he needed something floating to sleep on.

Two days was only if the weather was decent.

It wasn't.

Towering waves created ever-shifting valleys and peaks to weave through and made it difficult to maintain his balance on the water's surface.

It was the most awesome challenge Naruto had ever faced until he was worn out enough to want to sleep. The waters were freezing, and, despite the waterproof clothes he had bought just for this run, so was he. His lips were blue with cold.

Teeth chattering, he summoned his raft, but there was no guarantee it wouldn't capsize in this storm. With shaking hands, he pulled out a brush and ink and began trying to sketch a pattern that would automatically balance the raft, anchor it to the seafloor, and erect a water barrier around it. He couldn't hold his hands steady enough though. _Little help?_

**_Sad, boy._ **

_Look, it's cold, alright? Forgive me for freezing my ass off._ Warm red chakra flooded his system, a transparent cloak that rejuvenated him enough to finish designing and implementing the seal pattern. _I wonder how Itachi and his team are going to get to there._

**_They'll probably wisely avoid all this damn water by cutting through Earth and Iron or Lightning to the ice fields. You are the crazy one that actually likes this sort of weather. Your boundless excitement was getting nauseating._ **

_I'm sure it was just 'all this damn water' making you seasick. Thank goodness you don't give me that. That would suck._

**_You are the most unnatural creature I have ever had the misfortune to be tied to. Mountains and water and falling and pissy whining… What next?_ **

_Well, I suppose I could become interested in the caves and trenches_ under _the ocean._

**_Don't you dare!_ **

Naruto grinned and ducked inside the barrier, summoned his flannel blankets, and made himself a little nest before drifting off to the rocking of the raft.

* * *

Itachi peered across the white landscape, squinting against the glare of sunlight reflecting off the snow. Every exhalation raised a misty cloud, and his nose was so cold he could feel the cartilage in it getting stiff even behind the shield of his scarf. This was farther north than he'd ever had the misfortune of going, even farther north than Snow and Iron. They had to be pretty close to the arctic circle. "Hinata-kun, can you spot anyone?"

The dour girl shot him a look—one that clearly said she would say something when she did spot something without him constantly asking—with her right icy lavender eye, which was the only part of her not covered in thick snow gear. The left was still under a patch.

Itachi smirked. Hinata may have allowed herself to be considered crippled for the sake of her clan and her village, but she had not taken her presumed "uselessness" lying down. Though self-effacing due to the necessity of keeping everyone from asking too many questions, Hinata had hidden snark.

"Come on, now, Hinata-chan," Shisui wheedled as they kept bounding over the tundra. "You know Itachi is just paranoid. With Sasuke as a little brother, how else could he be?"

Despite the bulging veins, Itachi could see the corner of Hinata's eye crinkling up in response to a masked grin. "Sasuke is the same way."

"Just more apologetic," Kakashi-san added blandly as he studied their surroundings. An arctic fox was watching them pass warily from beside the snowy mound of a boulder. It was bad enough that Itachi was captain instead of Shisui, but to be in charge of Hatake Kakashi as well was awkward. Not that Kakashi resisted his orders, but Itachi second-guessed himself before daring to issue one to him. The man was as much in line for Hokage as he was, though not at all interested in the position if the rumours were true.

As the Yondaime's student, he was a favourite. Tsunade-sama relied on him as well, trusting his judgement over the counsel of the Elders.

"Still no sign of a human, but there is something on the very edge of my vision: dormant yellow chakra in a seal. It's not a paper seal though: the design is painted on a rock and buried in the snow," said Hinata, pointing east.

Itachi signalled that they change course and sprinted after Shisui, who took up point, while Hinata retreated to the back of the formation.

"More rock seals!" Hinata called. "It seems they're part of a series marking out a circle. It's not a seal I recognize."

"Probably a warning system. He has seal training," Itachi mused aloud. "Let us know when we're about to cross the barrier. There's no guarantee we're allowed."

"Isn't he supposed to be waiting for us?" asked Shisui, glancing back over his shoulder.

"Yuji-san is a bit… odd."

"He's a jinchuuriki," Kakashi-san said, his visible eye conveying curiosity. "How much odder can he get?"

"Yuji-san is not fond of ninja, or he wasn't when we last met."

"Tsunade-sama said he carries the Leaf band though," Hinata protested.

Itachi decided that they would understand when they met Yuji. It had been years. Perhaps the boy had changed.

"We're here! Stop!"

Shisui pulled up short at Hinata's command, scanning the smooth terrain ahead before peering back at the girl.

"The first marker is right there." She pointed. "The next two are about a hundred and fifty metres that way and that way."

Kakashi-san whistled. "That's a big ring. He'd have to be paranoid to avoid being brought back to Konoha though."

Itachi coated a shuriken in flames and sent it through the barrier and then hunkered down to wait. That the barrier hadn't kept the projectile from entering could mean several things: that the barrier was meant to keep things in or that it was meant to detect intrusions were the most likely.

"Person approaching from inside the barrier!" Hinata faced directly towards the centre.

In a bit, a young man swaddled in winter gear appeared. Itachi waved when the boy slowed to study them a ways out, and he picked up the pace again. "Hey, Itachi!" He pushed back his fur-lined hood and yanked his scarf loose as he closed the last ten metres, revealing the appearance Itachi had seen inside the boy the first time, the one that looked so much like the Yondaime.

"Yuji… I should be calling you Naruto, shouldn't I?" he asked.

The teen shrugged. "Monks got me in the habit of not being pissed off by being called 'Naruto', so you can use that if you want. Who are these guys?"

"My friend Uchiha Shisui, Hatake Kakashi, and Hyuuga Hinata." Each nodded in turn when Itachi gestured to them. Kakashi looked poleaxed though—his eye was wide.

Yuji raised an eyebrow at the jounin. "Something the matter?"

"You… You resemble someone I knew very well," Kakashi admitted.

"Ho, so you knew my father, huh? Jiraiya-jijii, my dad, and my brother told me all kinds of stories about him. Just to be clear, yeah, Namikaze Minato donated sperm in my creation."

Kakashi-san looked slightly perturbed at how Yuji had phrased that.

"I've been told my name is Uzumaki Naruto—apparently it's safer to have my mom's name than my dad's. You can all call me Naruto." He glanced at Itachi. "Do they know?"

He nodded. "They were chosen to accompany me to be the failsafe in case anything goes wrong."

Yuji dipped his chin. "Okay. Then I guess I should introduce you. This is Kurama." A thick skin of red and black chakra coated Yuji's form. Glowing white eyes narrowed at them as the beast with four tails nodded. The chakra receded, leaving Yuji apparently untouched.

Itachi noted the tension in his team and suppressed a sigh. Even Hinata, who had not even been born when the Kyuubi had attacked, looked concerned.

"You're the Hyuuga girl," Yuji said, studying her. "Tell me, are you really blind? Or did they just say that?"

"Classified," she said shortly.

"Not blind then. With white eyes and no pupils, no one would be able to tell anyway. I thought so; it seemed like the sort of bullshit thing the ninja villages do for the sake of politics. Bet it sucks having to wear an eyepatch when you don't need one."

Oddly, Kakashi was the one that looked the most offended by this exchange; Hinata just shrugged it off without confirming anything, but she was used to those accusations according to Sasuke—any foreign ninja familiar with the Hyuuga Fiasco liked to bring it up. After mulling it over for a while during the journey to Yuji's base, Itachi came to the conclusion that Kakashi was offended because Yuji was so derogatory of the village. He sidled up to Kakashi. "Yuji-kun has no desire to be a ninja."

Kakashi shot him a look. "He's a jinchuuriki, the Yondaime's son."

Itachi nodded. "He decided not to follow in his fathers footsteps. He will do work for Konoha, but he doesn't wish to be counted as one of us."

If anything, Kakashi looked even more troubled.

* * *

Naruto led the Konoha ninja into the cross between a cave, fortress, and dome he had constructed out of snow. While he had been waiting for the team to arrive, he had poked around and studied the locals from a distance. They had a pretty unique way of dealing with the lack of timber for houses. Naruto had written seals to strengthen his base and to prevent the snow from melting while heating the interior with the fuel of his chakra.

Itachi added some of his provisions to Naruto's, and between them they managed a good late lunch of rice, fish, and tea. Shisui turned out to be a pretty laid-back guy (which Kurama assured him was a miracle for an Uchiha), and between him and Itachi, they managed to get the conversation rolling. He learned about old Hiruzen's death and the slime ball Orochimaru while Itachi got a rundown of his time in Wind Temple. Shisui was pretty interested in how he had creamed Gaara, so Naruto acted as a mouthpiece for Kurama's blow by blow run-through.

Hinata and Kakashi kept to themselves, which was fine by Naruto. He was only letting these guys near because Itachi had used the favour. It was kind of neat to confirm his suspicions about the Hyuuga girl, though she was scarred: two pale white lines, one angling down from above the right eyebrow and appearing on the other side of her eyepatch on her cheekbone, the other appearing on the right eyelid when she blinked, widening on the root of her nose and trailing off towards her hair beyond the eyepatch. She caught him staring and narrowed that white eye mockingly, as if to say "Really? Even you?"

He shrugged in reply. "It was a big deal where I'm from; kept the damn war going. Even the fishermen cursed about the Fiasco. Most believed it really was that Kumo ninja, but I've heard people say your father did it, or that old Sarutobi was the one that sliced you."

The Konoha ninja all looked shocked.

**_Are you trying to kill all conversation?_ **

_Hey, you're the fiery one. Shouldn't you be all about 'fight fire with fire'?_

"I heard you ran away because you were ashamed of destroying Mount Bousui," Hinata said.

Kurama laughed in his head. Damn, but the girl gave as good as she got. He grinned. "Nah. I was damn ashamed of that, but I ran away because I'm a cowardly pacifist and an ingrate. Killing so many trees ruined my nerves. Can you imagine someone so pathetic killing _people_?"

**_Except that you have._ **

_Shut up. If I don't think about that, it's not a lie._

**_Corpses in lakes and unmarked graves…_ **

_Are you trying to get us in more trouble than we already are? There are four Konoha ninja here. I doubt Itachi likes Danzou much—he's an Uchiha hater from what Dad said—but the rest of these guys?_

**_I am merely stating things as they are._ **

_You're an ass and I hate you an ungodly percent of the time._

**_And you're annoying. Focus. She made a comeback. And there have been three seconds of silence since then. They are wondering if you are slow._ **

_Shit! What'd she say?_

**_I thought you hated me? What if I lie out of spite?_ **

_Ku-man._

There was a silence. **_She declared a challenge. You two will meet at dawn and throw daggers at each other until one of you falls._**

Naruto cleared his throat. "Sorry, I missed a couple seconds. Kurama is being an utter bastard and making crass remarks about humans. I was attempting to defend our species. What did I miss, Hinata-san?"

"Ah… And what are you trying to be instead?"

Kakashi looked wanly amused at her words. Apparently, this wasn't what she had said before.

"Well, you know. This and that. Studying. Keeping my nose clean. Avoiding ninja. Hanging out with monks and whores."

"Whores?"

"Yeah, my mom was one." He could have sworn that Kakashi almost sprayed out his tea through his mask, which would have been a truly awful spit take.

"Your mother was a-a…a wh- who—" Hinata looked like she had just downed a shot of whisky for the first time ever: red and sputtering. Shisui was snickering in the background, and Itachi was struggling with that straight face of his.

Naruto kept going. "A whore. You know, a woman who engages in sexual relations in exchange for monetary rewards. That was before I was around, of course."

Itachi broke in. "Yuji is referring to the woman that raised him." That seemed to calm Kakashi down, which was a shame. Maybe getting tea all over his mask would have forced him to reveal the lower half of his face. Naruto was curious why the Hatake bothered with one. Did he have an ugly birthmark or something? It wasn't like the mask hid the shape of his face. Ninja were weird.

When the food was all gone and another pot of tea was brewing, Itachi leaned forward. "Are you planning to do it today?"

Naruto nodded. "You're here. We were only waiting for you. We'll start tonight. I've got a couple things I want to discuss with you before I head out there. The sun sets early up here."

"What did you want to talk about?"

Naruto glanced at the other three and thinned his lips. "I'd rather just talk to you. Let's go outside. Make yourselves at home while we're out," he said to the rest of the team before crawling out the tunnel door, Itachi on his heels.

The sun was setting. Naruto drank it in with a deep breath before glancing at Itachi. "She can read lips."

The Uchiha nodded.

"How far?"

"Ten kilometres."

"Crap. I guess they wouldn't like it if we went that far?"

"Hinata-kun is trustworthy."

"She doesn't know me at all. I doubt she cares much about my secrets or opinions. But whatever. I've been melodramatic enough this last week for a lifetime." He let out his breath in a puff of vapour and pulled his scarf tighter around the lower half of his face. "If… If this doesn't go well, please look after my brother and dad."

"You asked that when you gave me the necklace. I haven't forgotten."

He allowed a half-smile to twist his lips, not that Itachi could see it. "Yeah. My mom… Jiraiya wouldn't tell me. My dad's supposed to know where she is. Please find her and look after her. Keep her safe. I guess keep the old perv from expiring too."

"Anything else?"

"Become Hokage. Be a good one, one that doesn't get into stupid wars that hurt everybody else. Like at Suna, talk it out or whatever. You ninja are trouble for all the rest of us, so you gotta keep a lid on your bloody egos. Just 'cuz we're not powerful enough to blast you all to smithereens like the other villages, it doesn't mean you can ignore us.

"If… If Kurama's free, leave him alone. Leave all the bijuu alone. They're bigger than you and me. Maybe the monks brainwashed me, but I've got the feeling that things are going wrong, that the bijuu we've trapped are meant to be a sort of balancing act. The Sage created them for a reason, to fulfill duties. The Sage wasn't a ninja—he was a monk, a holy man. He believed in gods regulating the world."

"What about Sanbi?" Itachi was staring south, towards the North Sea.

"I'm not sure what he's for. Kyuubi's for hatred though. He can feel it; he told me that East Port used to call him, back when it was a scuzzy place."

Itachi didn't appear surprised. Naruto had always known there was a reason he liked this guy. He was wise, kind of like an old man. A village granny had once told him that was called having an "old soul".

The western horizon was a brilliant smear of red, pink, and orange fading into blue.

"That's all?"

"Yeah." Naruto closed his eyes. "Let's do this."

* * *

Yuji sat in the middle of a large barrier he had constructed, the stars brilliant in the clear evening sky. Itachi, Shisui, and Kakashi ringed it, while Hinata watched from about a kilometre away in the relative comfort and safety of Yuji's snow house, keeping an eye out for anyone approaching, especially Akatsuki.

Itachi stomped his feet and flexed his fingers. He had offered to go in with Yuji, but the boy had shaken his head.

"This is between me and Ku-man. You do what you need to out there; just don't be trigger happy."

* * *

Naruto peeled the paper seal off the gate.

Kurama was watching him avidly, his tails waving slowly.

Calling up the key, he lifted his shirt, glad his winter gear hadn't come in with him, and placed chakra-infused fingers on the seal. He twisted the seal towards his left and watched as the spiral lock in the gate clicked open slat by slat.

His heart thudded in his chest, but he waited, watching Kurama watch the lock.

The last slat clicked away.

* * *

Itachi tensed as chakra flared, but it was coming from the wrong direction. He peered back at the snow fortress as Hinata scrambled out of the tunnel and began racing towards them, waving her hands.

"From the south!" she shouted as she came closer with Shunshin no Jutsu. "It's not within range, but I can see the shockwaves! It's water nature!"

Itachi paused, torn. Whatever was going on down south had to be important with that much chakra flying around, but he couldn't send Hinata alone. Sasuke would never forgive him if something happened to her. Shisui was more than capable of taking care of himself, but his eyes were too precious to risk with just Hinata to assist him; besides, he was probably the one they needed here the most. Kakashi was probably here to watch them, so Itachi couldn't make any move to send him away.

Nodding, he turned to Shisui and Kakashi. "I'll be back. Like I reported, the Kyuubi is susceptible to hypnotic control." He headed towards Hinata, who began running point the moment he caught up.

* * *

Naruto and Kurama stared each other down across the threshold of the now open gate.

**"You know,"** Kurama said conversationally as he inspected the doorway, **"I've had three hosts. Mito dared this. Kushina dared this. Do you know what they did the moment the seal was open?"**

"Attacked you to steal your chakra." Naruto stood his ground as Kurama took a step over the threshold.

**"That's the only reason they bothered with unlocking their seals. Both were not this one, but the idea is similar enough. They fought me and lost, only surviving by locking me back up again."** Slitted red eyes fixed on Naruto. **"I never gave my word that I would let this chance pass me by!"**

Naruto ducked away from the tail that slammed down on the spot where he had been standing, feeling empty, dull. "I know. You must think I'm pretty naive, Ku-man. You were always so careful never to promise anything. Lots of pretty words, but no substance."

**"Same as you. Lots of blathering about feelings. Looking for sympathy, boy?"** The fox grinned that terrible, horrifying grin. **"I'll give you one last piece of advice, boy. Run."**

"My mind, Ku-man," Naruto said evenly. "I don't need to go anywhere." The labyrinth walls suddenly twisted and wriggled, and Naruto was standing in a dim corridor. Closing his eyes for focus, he began to tie knots in his mind, hoping to contain Kyuubi's influence to a corner.

A familiar blast took out twenty metres of corridor to his left with a rush of heat and smoke.

"Shit." Gritting his teeth, Naruto began jogging through the water, morphing the labyrinth's walls into a more familiar shape: seal of confusion. It was a stopgap measure. Pressing a cup that appeared in his hand at his wish to the wall, he heard the rumble of Kurama wreaking havoc, barking and snarling. He could stop all of this if he twisted the walls so Kyuubi was back inside the cage and reactivated the seal, but Kurama had hit his nature on the head.

"My word is my honour and my honour is my life," he spat, jogging down the hallway again, still feeling so hollow. He had suspected, always wondered so quietly in his mind (though he was sure Kurama had caught it), that the fox was using him. He had promised the fox though. He would make this work if he had to beat Kurama's skull in first.

That would be hard though. He had always let Kurama handle the rough fighting—the fox enjoyed it. Naruto was well aware he wasn't close to a match for the fox offensively, so skull beating was going to be tough to dish out.

"Double shit! Fuck! Fucking bastard fox!" He slapped the wall that was now stainless steel. "You had to go and make this all hard. I would have **_shared, you fucker_**!"

He kicked the wall for good measure and hissed. Apparently, he made damn strong walls when he put his mind to it.

A rumble from upstairs—he hadn't even been aware there was an upstairs—pulled him out of his cursing, well, sort of. "Oh shit. Damn it. Seals are 2D."

Kurama had blasted the ceiling.

The ceiling had to be the barrier between consciousness and his subconsciousness.

"Fuck."

If Kurama was in his consciousness while he was down here… He could feel the boiling red chakra rushing out through his real world skin. Kami-sama, he really hoped Itachi didn't decide that meant he had lost.

Focusing, Naruto tried something that had started out as a thought experiment at Brother Hikmat's prompting last year. He consciously examined his consciousness, relegating the Kyuubi's level to a higher level of basement instead of the main floor. It was tricky; he had to think about himself thinking and tie that lower thinking into knots (3D this time) so Kyuubi was kept from the lobby as it were.

Stairs appeared, and Naruto climbed them. It was too hard to maintain this focus on thinking about himself thinking to try moving things around to move himself. The metallic boom of Kurama punishing his first layer of consciousness made him wince. He thought about himself thinking about his thinking. Three layers. This was going to make his eyes cross. Still, it kept distance between Kyuubi and control.

That didn't stop a skeleton from forming outside, apparently.

Naruto had never traded control with Kurama to the point where more than four tails formed, but he was well past that now. Six, he figured.

Gods, he hoped the Konoha shinobi kept their pants on. This was going to take time. And he watched himself hoping and thinking that, musing over how he was responding to his dilemma. And he watched himself watch himself and muse over his dilemma.

Ugh.

He reached the first layer of consciousness and called up another staircase as the walls started to gain a red glow. Kurama was going to melt them soon. Naruto twisted them further into a water seal, which would hopefully conduct the heat away for a bit, keeping the walls intact. He jogged up the stairs, which were wobbly. The second layer of consciousness was very wavy, like the metal walls were clay oozing as his focus waned. The stairs to the third layer he called up were heavily warped.

He tried for a fourth layer, but he couldn't do it. It was too many layers of examination. "Three it is," he muttered as he reached the broken platforms that made up the third floor. A swirling mass of nothingness peaked through the cracks, though stray thoughts from the first layer appeared as flashes of light, colour, smell, taste, touch, and sound far below. The platforms creaked ominously, and Naruto resumed examining the examiner watching the main level of consciousness.

Steam began rising up through the stairwell. Seven tails.

"Now what?" he asked the ceiling that kept fluttering in and out of existence.

A roar echoed up from two floors down. Eight tails. He could feel vulpine muscles twitching from exposure to the cold with no skin and fur in the way.

Creepy.

"Well," said a strange voice, "I hadn't quite pictured this."

Naruto whipped around, ready to yell at Kakashi or Shisui, but this didn't sound like either of them. It certainly wasn't Itachi.

Instead, a blond man wearing a long white coat and something like the standard ninja attire had his hands on his hips.

"Who the fuck are you?" Yuji demanded, his skin returning to the shade close to his mom's.

The blond man looked a bit taken aback at the change in his appearance, his blue eyes wide. "I…"

"Never mind. You're Namikaze, huh?"

"Ah, yeah." His father looked pretty sheepish.

"If I wasn't so busy keeping this thought tower from collapsing on itself, I'd sock you in the gut for assuming that I'd want to be a fucking ninja and shoving Kurama in me, but I am trying to do some pretty heavy thinking." He closed up the stairs as the banging noises got close to the stairwell. "This isn't the nicest place for us to have a meeting, you know, but I'm not very concerned with the aesthetic appeal of our surroundings right now."

Minato looked nonplussed. Yuji could totally see why his dad had thought the Yondaime was a bit of a goof. "I was supposed to repair the seal for you, just in case you ever got to eight tails."

"Well, that would be awesome, except I'm not interested in putting Kurama back in a cage."

"You're attempting to subdue Kyuubi?" He sounded pretty excited.

"No." Yuji rolled his eyes. "If you've been stuck in me for this long, didn't you keep tabs on what was going on? Kurama did."

The flustered look disappeared from his dad's face, replaced by something closer to disappointment. "I did."

"Well, then we don't need to have this talk. You got anything useful to add?"

"Taking Kyuubi's chakra is the safest way to stabilize things."

"Not happening. I promised him that we'd crack open your seal. Shoving him back in right after that is obeying the letter of the promise, but not the spirit. It's the spirit that counts."

Minato looked torn between faint pride and frustration. "The Kyuubi respects strength. You weren't trained in offence for long, so you're no match for him in the conventional sense."

"Will you help me then?" Yuji asked.

The man looked torn. "I'll do what I can, but I didn't have much chakra to seal into you. One good attack and I'll be gone. There's one option though."

Yuji narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"I sealed your mother's chakra in here as well, all that she had left. With the three of us…"

"Kami-sama, you made it a party up in here, didn't you?" Yuji shook his head. "Seriously, I don't approve, even if it is kind of interesting to meet you. That's got to be some obscure form of breaking and entering or squatting."

Minato chuckled, though it was definitely laced with pain and disappointment. "You have an interesting sense of humour. I thought you were going to be just like your mom for a while there, but you're something else entirely."

"I'm glad."

"You're rather like Mae-san."

Yuji couldn't stop his grin. "Yup." It was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him, despite all his mom's flaws. "Where do we find Kushina?"

His father looked grim. "You've got to get a hold on the Kyuubi's chakra. I set it up so she would appear when you started subduing him and had trouble with his will, since she has experience in the process."

"Pity you didn't tell Sarutobi that; he was forever freaking out about how he didn't really know how Kushina and Mito controlled the Kyuubi because they hadn't written anything down or shared their secrets with him."

His father's face fell further.

"If possible, I'd like to talk to you after we have this under control."

"Then we'll talk." Minato looked at the freakish structure of the third level again. "How are you even doing this?"

"Meta thinking. The monks taught me a lot about meditation. You probably saw our storytelling sessions with the Kyuubi. Hikmat was more interested in how consciousness worked than in sealing, so he'd share his pet theories with me every once in a while. This was one of them."

"I've never seen mental space manipulated like this." His father reached out to touch the twisted wall. "It's fascinating."

"I'd think so too if it wasn't such a pain in the ass to keep intact, but you're saying I've got to touch Kurama's chakra, so we need to get to his level. Brace yourself. I'm gonna collapse this all back into the lobby."

"The what?" Minato didn't have time to say anything else as the floor fell out from underneath them, rushing down as the walls flowed into the ones below, gaining cohesion they had lacked before and straightening. Yuji then crunched the second level down onto the first, smothering the first layer's thought process entirely. Kurama howled as tons of concrete and steel flattened him.

Yuji reached through a crack in the floor to touch one of Kurama's tails as the fox let loose a high pitched whine of pain. "Sorry, Ku-man," he whispered, petting the fur. "You're being an asshole though. I wanna live, thanks."

"Grab onto it with your chakra," Minato advised, crouching across the crack from him, keeping an eye on the rubble covering the fox's head.

Yuji latched onto the chakra with his own and gave it a tug. A red aura began peeling away from the fox's flesh. Weird. Standing up, Yuji began pulling on it harder. Black began oozing into the red aura, seeping towards him. It had an awful smell/atmosphere to it: fetid, putrid, sewage, rotting meat, rotting potatoes, all the worst smells. It touched him and he wished he could recoil, but his chakra and Kurama's were bound now, a conduit of their wills. He could feel Kyuubi's will trying to gain a foothold, but there were only a few spots: his anger at Mamoru and Konoha for jerking him around as they pleased and how they had led him to the point where he had had to kill and taking his mom, and his resentment towards his parents for deciding his life by sealing Kurama in him. Those spots were somewhat tempered by compassion, so the wailing howls echoed without much resonance in his soul.

"Minato?"

Yuji opened his eyes to find a red-haired woman staring between him and his father.

"Kushina." Minato gathered her up in a hug, pressing his face to her hair.

"I never thought we'd meet here…" she whispered, clutching him. "Naruto…" She turned to Yuji, her eyes wide at his foreign appearance.

"So you're Kushina. I've heard you were a badass, though Ku-man isn't fond of your attitude." Yuji felt awkward. Was he supposed to hug these strangers and cry? They seemed to expect so much from him, but he didn't know them, hadn't cared about their existence until he had been taught to. He was relieved that the situation meant he could avoid their disappointment as Kurama started trying to rise from under the rubble of two layers of consciousness.

Yuji turned to his blood parents. "Get clear. I've got an idea, and I don't want you involved. You know me, but I don't know you, so I won't be able to work well with you. That way." He pointed to a side corridor that opened up at his command.

"But—!" Kushina protested, bringing forth a chain.

"No. Go. I'll need you two later." Yuji went meta again, stacking two layers of consciousness up upon this one. He walked over to stand in front of Kurama's nose. One of the fox's eyes glared at him through a gap in the rubble as he began to work his way free of the weight. "Like I said, you're being an asshole." He severed his own chakra to let go of Kurama's chakra. What did he even want chakra for? He made enough of his own to do everything he wanted so long as he was clever with seals. "Because you're being a two-faced asshole, I'm gonna drop a building on your head. Not because you're a bijuu. Not because I hate you. I'm doing this because you're being rude and I'm not big enough to smack manners into you any other way."

With that clear, Yuji collapsed the examiner examining another examiner—another ton of concrete and steel—on top of Kurama.

It was clear Kurama was not getting up from under that. Yuji evaporated some sections from on top of the fox's face so his eyes and ears were clear. "I'd like to let you talk, but I need you to swear—really swear, no fluffy words that aren't really worth anything—that you're not going to spit out an attack. How about I word this better: I will remove rubble to allow you to talk so long as you promise not to attack me or anyone or anything else here until we are finished discussing. Blink three times if you swear. This promise is binding. You don't promise, and I'll leave this on you until you're ready to cooperate."

Kurama snarled wheezily, but it was muffled. His struggles barely shifted the rubble. Yuji sat patiently in a chair he imagined into existence as the minutes ticked away, giving off the impression that he had all the time in the world. He could feel his parents watching him, hear them murmuring to each other.

After an hour, Kurama was obviously hyperventilating to keep the weight from crushing the air from his lungs. He blinked three times resentfully.

Yuji evaporated the rubble on his maw and a bit of the weight over his ribcage. "Nice that we're talking again."

**"I could be lying. I could attack you right here."**

"Hardly. Your father was a man of truth and honour. You'd be disappointing him." Yuji leaned forward in his chair, resting his chin on his folded hands, which were braced by elbows on his thighs. "So, why attack me?"

**"I told you. I know how this game goes, boy. Third time's the charm."**

"Except I'm not playing that game, Ku-man. You know that. No matter what promises we offer to Konoha, we've got veto power if we're both really against something. I don't want your chakra. What do I need it for? You don't even like sailing. If we need to fight, I'll leave it to you, since you're the one that enjoys it. That's the way it's always been, and that's the way it will be no matter what the perv and that hag Hokage want. We're not gonna play their games. Our game is freeing you. Has it ever been anything else?"

**"Konoha has your mother. Jiraiya gave you that hint. Your mother's 'house' is in Konoha. If they use that against you, who will win, brat? I'm not a fool."**

Yuji blinked. "So that wasn't about the Uzumaki house?"

**"No. It could have been, but it wasn't. Jiraiya lied about not knowing where she was."**

"That _fucking bastard!_ Shit! So Konoha kept her?" Yuji launched himself out of his chair to pace. Fisting his hands on his hips, he arched his head back as he sucked in a deep breath through his nose. After counting to five, he let it out. "Why didn't you tell me? Wait, never mind, that's a dumb question. Of course you wouldn't. If I confronted them about it, they could start dictating to me, and you assumed I'd go along with it."

**"Of course you would."**

"Not for that. The only reason they haven't used her against me yet is because they know—unlike you, Mr Insecure—that I'd come for them, because I'm not going to betray you just because I'm caught between two promises."

**"It would be easiest to keep the letter of your promise by doing Konoha's bidding while superficially studying how to release me. You would find your mother fastest then."**

Scowling, Yuji punched Kurama in the nose. "Ass," he hissed as the fox unsuccessfully tried to rear back out of range. "You and Mom are equal."

Kurama looked nonplussed.

"You are. Sure, I knew her longer, and sure, you did plenty of shitty things, but I'm not going to put you two on a balance and watch one side tip. No. Promises are all worth the same amount."

**"You won't find a way to separate us without you dying. It's not possible. The Sage died as he released us into the world. The separation can't be withstood by mortal flesh."**

"We can't know that. You told the Wind Temple monks the Sage didn't know about electricity, about lasers, about so many things that they found after he died, when there were no ninja, just monks following in his footsteps while the rest of the world advanced with science, leaving them behind. He didn't know everything. Ninja today don't know everything either. Besides, he was an old geezer, the Sage. He did that at the end of his lifespan. Villages today don't care about whether their jinchuuriki live or die from what I've seen. We can find it. Believe it."

**"And what if Konoha decides to take us back, despite what you asked Itachi? There's no guarantee Itachi will be Hokage. There's no way to know he will even still be alive to stop Konoha if we do fail."**

"If Konoha or any other village comes, we'll beat them off. We'll go so far away that they'll never find us. I'll give you my body with my death if we do fail. I won't make you die with me. You're not the Juubi."

**"You promise?"**

"I promise. We can share this body; I don't think you should take charge when we're sailing though—it wouldn't look good if I was puking my guts up in front of my crew."

Kurama squinted in amusement. **"You are a strange mammal."**

Yuji rolled his eyes. "Dude, you're a fox with hands and you spit chakra bombs. I don't think you get to talk. You gonna promise to behave?"

It was the fox's turn to roll his eyes. **"I swear to behave and act in concert with you until your dying breath or until we are successfully separated."**

"Good enough." The rubble on top of Kurama evaporated.

With a groan, the fox got his limbs to cooperate, getting them out of their splayed positioning into something more comfortable with a lot of high-pitched whines. Probably broken bones. Yuji wasn't going to apologize though. He had meant to do that, just like the fox had meant to attack him. They would work past these things. Apologizing would be an insult. He did walk forward to flick Kurama's forehead between the eyes though. Kurama glared at him, but there was tolerance behind it. They were good again.

He turned around to face his blood parents, who looked extremely nervous. "You can come out now. We want to talk to you."

**"I don't."**

"I know you don't," Yuji said, poking Kurama. "You should though."

Kushina looked pretty nervous while Minato managed to keep his expression only faintly uneasy.

"Minato, Kushina, this is Kurama, son of the Six Paths Sage. Kurama, this is Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage, and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, jounin badass."

Kurama looked slightly pleased at Yuji's description and even more wickedly pleased when Minato nodded respectfully. "Kurama-san."

**"Namikaze."** He turned baleful eyes on Kushina. **"Uzumaki."**

Yuji stared his mother down, silently reminding her she was on his turf, until she turned back to the fox and nodded. "Kurama."

"Better," Yuji said, sitting back on his chair and calling up a pair for his parents. "Sit down. We've got stuff to talk about."


	18. Chapter 18

Hinata and Itachi ran with the star-studded sky above and glittering white below until land and ice both ran out, and then they hopped from one floating chunk of ice to another as a second shockwave of water chakra rolled over them.

"It's still out of range," said Hinata, staring south. "Based on the curvature of the chakra ripples from this one, it's far south, probably a quarter of the distance to the Finger Peninsula."

"If we can detect them all the way from here…" Itachi whispered, awed. "Water and this level of chakra… It must be Sanbi."

Hinata glanced at him with her uncovered eye. "If he is causing storms, wouldn't he always be expelling this level of chakra?"

"This isn't a storm. This is a bijuudama—it has a similar feel to what happened on Mount Bousui. What we first detected must have been one as well."

Hinata gasped, but she wasn't facing him anymore. Instead, she was riveted by something to the south. "Holy…" she whispered. "Itachi-san, there's a wall of snow and ice carried by the wind coming. A thin haze. Travelling very fast! Probably spray from the explosion that was frozen in the journey north." She spun and pressed her hands in front of her face as Itachi released a fire plume, having spotted the wall of miniature ice shrapnel coming halfway through her explanation, it was moving that fast.

The heat of his flames fortunately evaporated the little chips on exposure, keeping him and Hinata unscathed even as the blast of force rocked them on their feet.

"Is this from the first series of ripples or the second?"

"The curvature of the arc of the wind and water better matches the second set—the arc seems tighter, so its origin must be closer… It's too big and we've moved so much since the first series of ripples… I can't get a good read on the difference, but there definitely is one."

Itachi was not like some of the analysts he had run into during his stint as the Sandaime's assistant: he was not one for charts and plotting circles on them, though he would readily admit to their usefulness, especially in this case. He was content with the assessment that the two bijuudama had detonated quite a distance from each other. The implication was that the Sanbi was fighting.

Who was the opponent?

Gritting his teeth, Itachi resisted the urge to pace the edge of the ice chunk. "Can you still see the rest of the team?" She claimed ten kilometres, but he had always suspected she could see much farther than that.

"No, we're hours beyond my range from them. Unless they begin launching attacks like the Sanbi's with shockwaves, I can't detect them at all."

"They already have four," Itachi murmured, narrowing his eyes at the sea. "Shichibi, Gobi, Ichibi, and Nibi. If we let them take Sanbi, that's more than half. We're under a day's run… Konoha doesn't have anyone strong enough to interfere nearby. We're probably the closest." He closed his eyes. "We won't make it unless the Sanbi holds them off."

"Can't it? It's a bijuu…"

Itachi shrugged. "Akatsuki has subdued four jinchuuriki. Nii Yugito was able to transform into the Nibi, and they got her. I don't know how long it took the pair to subdue her or which pair it was. Any ripples from the Kyuubi?"

Hinata shook her head.

Letting only the slightest hint of a smile on his face, he turned back to the sea. "Go back and bring Yuji and the team. If possible, get Kyuubi to call Sanbi here."

"Can bijuu do that?"

"I don't know. Go find out."

Hinata nodded and shot off northward, bouncing from ice chunk to ice chunk back to the ice sheet.

* * *

Yuji stared his genetic parents down, mulling over how to deal with this. These chakra ghosts knew things. They also wanted things from him that he wouldn't give them. His first instinct was to say they didn't have anything he gave a fuck about, but he had to probe beyond that. Sarutobi was dead, and Jiraiya had proven himself an evasive liar twice over now. His sources were few.

These ghosts obviously were very nostalgic for him. He could use that. There would have to be a delicate balance between pettiness and hints of leniency.

"So." He glanced at Kurama. "You want to explain how this clusterfuck situation came to be? Sarutobi fed me pieces, but since I never went to Konoha like a good little shinobi, I never got the whole story. So tell me, why me? Why Kurama? Why did you go off and leave me to deal with this alone by dying?"

Kushina's eyes were wide and wet by the time he was done talking. The fire he expected from her was banked by guilt. Too much anger then. He would have to tone it down. If he attacked too much, he had the sense that she would blast him shortly after Namikaze labelled him an emotional enemy and began attacking as well.

"I carried you for ten months," she said softly, though her voice gained strength as she went on, describing the weakness of the seal in childbirth and the plan to have her give birth outside of Konoha with ANBU and Sarutobi's wife for assistance.

Minato jumped in at one point, remarking in an awed tone about how much pain Kushina had been in, how she had howled.

"Eight hours of labour, 'ttebane!" Kushina quipped. Yuji almost quirked a grin at her odd speech tic. His dad had worked so hard to keep him from picking up the fishermen's speech patterns, knowing that such a strong accent would forever mark him in another role. Kushina would have made a horrible undercover agent.

The obvious affection both his genetic parents held for the unborn him was unnerving.

"I don't know how he got past our guards," said Minato, picking up the thread of the narration. "He killed our attendants before taking you. I had to choose." The Yondaime Hokage looked so very guilty, turning to gaze at his wife. "I had to choose to save you over helping your mother." He explained about the exploding tag in such a matter-of-fact way that Yuji was honestly terrified of these people. Ninja were insane. They could send messages instantly across hundreds of leagues, they could summon the elements, and they chose to butcher the minds of their people and make them emotionless stiffs like Root or crazies like these two.

Kushina and Minato continued talking. Very little was new until Minato got to the part where he went one-on-one with Orange Mask. "He told me he could take Kyuubi again whenever he wanted. I believed him. When we traded blows, I could feel his conviction, his strength. I was convinced he had to be Uchiha Madara, a truly terrible threat to the world." Here, he nodded to the fox. "I must bow to Kurama-san's experience though. He has met Madara, while I have not."

Yuji swore Ku-man was preening inside. **"He was nearly blank. There was ill intent, but it was buried beneath his apathy and his conviction that nothing in this world mattered. I could sense that through the control he kept over me."** He growled the last admission through his exposed teeth.

Yuji frowned. "So he's a sociopath?"

Minato shrugged. "I am not very familiar with the term. I am a front line fighter. It is more in Takashi-san's job description to know about that sort of profiling. I can only tell you that I feel he cared desperately about whatever his goal was, and only truly that."

Kurama growled as Minato narrated how he had used a huge toad to squash Ku-man and then Kushina and Minato explained the sealing itself.

The Shinigami. His genetic father had messed with the fucking Shinigami. Yuji just barely kept himself from freaking out over how half of Ku-man had been yanked away and ingested with Minato's soul by the Grim Reaper. He glanced at his partner and recalled how Itachi had been surprised the fox hadn't been bigger.

These people were even viler than he had realized. They had cut Kurama, who was probably a god, in half. Namikaze Minato was officially insane. Yuji tightened his grip on the arms of his chair when Kushina peered worriedly at his shaking hands.

Namikaze was obviously not totally as goofy as his dad had insinuated. That or squatting unbeknownst to Yuji in his soul for sixteen years had given this chakra ghost a better read on Yuji's emotional state than he was comfortable with. The man looked almost guilty as he finished up his explanation of the sealing. "Konoha has to have a jinchuuriki," he insisted. "The other four great nations had one at the time. And Taki. The balance of power demanded Konoha keep Kyuubi. You, exposed in the womb and bound to him from birth, would be the best attuned to him of any jinchuuriki ever to exist. You would be able to lock into his chakra in ways every other container could only dream of."

"Gaara."

Namikaze blinked. "Pardon?"

"Gaara had Shukaku sealed into him in the womb, or at least I think that's what Sarutobi told me. He was majorly fucked up."

"Mito-sama told me love was the shield," Kushina injected hurriedly. "As you told that boy, you had love. Minato and I gave you all the love we could before we died." She hesitated. "And your… your…" She couldn't seem to say it. "Mae-san. You had Mae-san and Takashi-san and Seiichi. You had so much love."

Yuji just barely kept from snarling that Mae was his mother, to force it in Kushina's face after avoiding its utterance. It was a near thing though. "There wouldn't be a need for a shield if you wouldn't seal bijuu into people in the first place!" he shouted, startling both ninja. "I don't care what your ninja god, the Shodaime, said or did! You made Kurama a ghost, an evil spirit haunting your existence! You worse than killed him! How could you not feel guilty every day?"

"To protect people—" his blood mother began, but he wasn't having it.

"Kurama is not human! Who are ninja to impose human laws and rationality upon a being like Kurama when you are all just as terrible! You think I haven't heard what they say about Namikaze Minato? The Yellow Flash who killed people so fast they didn't know he was putting a kunai in their brain until after the Shinigami collected them?"

Kurama laughed as Yuji reined himself in, forcing himself to feel the remorse his parents' shocked faces generated to regain his cool. **"She used to come to visit every once in a while, you know,"** Kurama remarked casually. **"She told me once, 'Neither of us have any sort of luck, do we? You keep the world at bay… but I keep you at bay.' That sums it up nicely."**

"So you did feel guilty," Yuji said softly, staring his biological mother in the eye. "You knew." He glanced at Namikaze. "You did it for Konoha." ("You crazy heathen fanatics" went unsaid.) "You did it for your idea that what was good for Konoha would be good for me and the world I would grow up in. You did it to give me tools to fight with." The placating words were like ashes on his tongue, but he said them with such compassion his dad would have been proud. "You did it so I could face Orange Mask in your place." (You cowards.) Rage thrummed, but he was living his role. A pained grimace blossomed instead of the snarl that lay just beneath the surface. "I bet you're kind of appalled at how I turned out, huh?"

Namikaze and Kushina traded pained looks before reaching for him, but both failed to cross those final inches that kept them from the reassuring contact they obviously wanted to offer. "We… We are so ashamed you have come into contact with the worst elements of Konoha, that circumstances prevented you from getting to see how wonderful the village is. You were encouraged by Kurama-san to put the worst spin on some things. For example, Sarutobi-sama did not lie to you about our deaths. Kurama-san's blow was not what killed us. You know why your mother was doomed no matter what, but the seal I used to take the Yin chakra from Kurama-san guaranteed my death as well. Being impaled only limited the amount of chakra we could seal into you.

"Speaking of, I only have a little more time. Not having to repair your seal as I'd planned gave me more time with you, for which I'm grateful. We always hoped to meet you, but I always dreaded the circumstances that would bring me out." He smiled tremulously.

"That prophecy Jiraiya-sensei mentioned to you during your last meeting, I believe in it. The Great Toad Sage was dotty, but he had a few smaller prophecies for me that came to pass." He and his wife traded a secret smile that made Yuji frown. His parents had never smiled at each other like that, so lovingly. Not truly.

"I believe you have inherited my role in that prophecy since Jiraiya was your sensei for a time. To bring peace to the world or utterly destroy it, it was a heavy burden. I could never figure out how to bring peace to all ninja. I would be grateful if you would try, but I don't have the right to ask it of you," he said almost meekly.

Yuji narrowed his eyes and glanced at Kurama.

**"Prophecies have a way of fulfilling themselves. If the brat is the lame man's last living student, then he will be cast in the pivotal role whether he wishes it or not."**

"Are you sure there's no one else?" Yuji asked.

Namikaze shook his head. "Both of my teammates died in the conflict with Iwa. I'm sure he never took on another student until you."

"And before you?"

Now Namikaze looked unsure. "I don't believe so. He never mentioned anyone."

Yuji made a mental note to ask the Hag. Being Jiraiya's teammate, she would know. He could trade her some lip service. She was more likely to be straight with him than Jiraiya.

Namikaze looked earnest and nervous. Strange to see his own blond hair and blue eyes used in the kicked puppy effect upon himself.

With a sigh, Yuji let his appearance melt back into Naruto's. It was the least he could do considering how they would not like what he was going to say. "I think a lot of the world's problems would cease if ninja disappeared. Lots of civilians think the same way, especially that Matsuku Clan Jiraiya told me about way back in the Red City. You're all overpowered bastards stepping all over the rest of us. But I can't think of a way to get rid of all of you." He shook his head sadly.

"It's not going to happen. The best I can hope for is tipping the world into peace or whatever for as long as I can and hope your niche in the economy dies. World destruction doesn't sound like much fun for the rest of us. Ninja squabbles usually lead to civilians getting slaughtered in the crossfire.

"Keeping you ninja from each other's throats long term isn't going to happen though. A ceasefire has only been going on for twenty months now, and I'm sure some small groups have broken it."

**"A common enemy,"** Kurama said. **"External enemies have united disparate factions before. The same could happen with a great enough threat to the ninja. It would take something exceptionally destructive, but at the moment, that Akatsuki group is the closest."**

Namikaze nodded. "Taking bijuu and destabilizing the balance of power will antagonize all the nations that have even deep grudges between them. If Akatsuki is powerful enough, it could push the nations into forming an alliance."

**"Alliances crumble though,"** Kurama said sagely. **"It may take a few generations, but they always crumble. It is easier to be divided than it is to work together and be something greater than the individual for humans. I have seen it so many times. This prophecy did not promise the peace would last."**

"Beggars can't be choosy," Naruto quipped.

"A time after wasn't mentioned," Namikaze admitted.

Naruto sighed. "You got time for one last question?"

Namikaze nodded.

"Is there a way to safely separate me and Kurama?"

The man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Considering what the monks said was the problem, it seems like leaving some of Kurama-san's chakra in you would prevent the collapse of the soul. Nothing is certain without testing, which carries its own dangers, of course."

Naruto stared at Minato and then turned to stare at the fox. "Fuck. Ku-man, that's so fucking simple. Why the heck didn't we think of that?"

**"The amount necessary… We'll have to test it."**

"A solid clone might give you some useful data without too much risk involved," Minato volunteered. "The numbers probably wouldn't be the same for real flesh and the soul, but it would give you a baseline."

"It's a start," Naruto agreed. "Thanks, Dad." Kushina looked so envious, he added, "Thanks, Mom." Now, the stage was set. "You're separated in death, aren't you. Dad's in the Shinigami's stomach while Mom's in the afterlife."

His parents traded pained looks.

"Kurama and I will get Dad out."

Now they looked taken aback.

"But—!"

"It's impossible—!"

"We're getting you out," Naruto said stubbornly. "There has to be a way. No seal is permanent. It's all just energy and will, and nothing like that lasts forever."

Face suffused with pride, Minato reached out and ruffled Naruto's hair hesitantly. "Thank you." He was so transparent, Naruto realized suddenly. He could see the lobby's walls through Minato's red and teary eyes as the man turned to his wife, who reached out to embrace him without any of the hesitation his mom had shown around his dad in private. "I'll see you soon then," he murmured as he held Kushina tightly.

"Soon," she whispered as he evaporated into nothing.

Naruto gave her a moment before asking, "So, any idea how to break the seal? He said it was based on one of yours."

"One of the Uzumaki seals, yes." Her lips thinned as she considered. "I heard rumours of stories. I think the masks the elders saved from the destruction of Whirlpool Village… Yes, the ghost stories Uzumaki children told each other say only one is the Shinigami's face, and that if you wear it, the death god will possess you."

**"And if you slice open his stomach…"** Kurama suggested.

Kushina nodded. "Exactly, 'ttebane! You have to be careful though. The adults always warned us the masks had death seals on them and we weren't to touch them. The one of the Shinigami must not be cursed the same way though, or the ghost stories wouldn't be as long as they were."

"Can you heal me from that kind of wound?" Naruto asked Kurama warily. Gut wounds were always nasty.

**"If the cut is clean,"** Kurama assured him.

"And his face?"

Kushina shrugged helplessly. "I've never met him."

**"I know his face. Very well in fact."** Kurama grinned that awful grin.

Naruto rolled his eyes at that black humour. "Okay, then that's the plan. Konoha is the next stop. How much time do you have left?"

Kushina shrugged. "I'm not sure. Minato sealed more of my chakra in you than his. He wanted me to have enough to help you."

"We can't assume too long then. I could make you go dormant again, if you want?"

She looked puzzled.

"When you're not fighting them"—he shot a look at Kurama—"the seals I use in my mind work. I could put you back to sleep. That way you'd last until I free Dad."

"When you free Minato," she agreed.

Nodding, he got to his feet and gestured that she follow him into a corridor that opened up in the wall at his approach. A door at the end swung open to reveal walls coated with the symbols necessary for sleep and suspension. A bed stood at its centre. "Unless you'd rather have a chair?"

"It's fine," she assured him, sitting on it. "I'll see you when you wake me."

He nodded and retreated to the door as she hesitated a moment, perhaps having hoped to hold him before his drawing back made that awkward, and reclined. Trading one last nod, he closed up the wall, activating the room's seals, and headed back to Kurama. "Now what?"

**"Isobu is losing his latest fight. As usual."** Kurama shook his head. **"He always was a wimp. I'd call him spineless, but that's too easy."**

Naruto refrained from reminding the fox how he had squashed him earlier. Tact was hard. "Right now? How far away?"

**"Far, but not beyond my range. The Hyuuga is coming back. Itachi is waiting farther south."**

"Then I guess I'd better get back to manning the house."

* * *

Itachi slowed his pacing only when four dots appeared to the north, growing at a good clip until Shisui, Yuji, Hinata, and Kakashi assembled beside him. Shisui shot him a gloved thumbs-up. "It was pretty dicey for a while there, but the kid came out of it. Normal ears, so I figure he won."

Yuji nodded. "It's not so much that I won as Kurama and I agreed that we're still partners for now."

Itachi arched an eyebrow but decided now wasn't the time for questions. "Sanbi. He'll be the fifth."

"Fifth?" Yuji's blue eyes widened. "That's more than I know about. Nibi, Ichibi… I heard a crazy rumour about Shichibi…"

"That was true. She was the second. Gobi was first."

"Shit." Yuji's eyes gained a red cast and became slitted. The rest of his face was beneath a scarf, so Itachi couldn't see if there were any other differences. His voice gained a throb, and his cadence changed to match what Itachi would have expected from an old man. Kyuubi. **"Do you know why Gobi was the first?"**

Itachi shook his head. "There is a lot of speculation, but nothing solid has come up. It took a while to find traces of the jinchuuriki corpses, since those two had broken contact with their villages. Gaara's death prompted us to check in with all the others."

"Not in order then." Yuji this time. "That sucks. Here we thought we might have some leeway. So, Sanbi."

"Sanbi," Itachi agreed. "Is there some way you can call him?"

Kyuubi this time, grinning if the creases around his eyes were any indication. **"Cover your ears and get back."** Red chakra flowed out, forming bones and cartilage, muscles and organs, skin, and finally fur. A miniature Kyuubi raised his hackles before throwing back his head and roaring, which set Itachi's ears ringing despite having bounded back about twenty feet and pressed his hands over his ears. Hinata was curled in on herself, her eye squeezed shut. Itachi activated his Sharingan and winced, understanding Hinata's pain: the chakra behind that call was blinding.

The iceberg cracked into fragments beneath their feet, all of them assembling on the largest chunk as waves caused by the sound blast rocked the icy flotsam. Kyuubi grinned at his handiwork for a few moments before gaining some mass. **"That should encourage him to come this way."** With that, the fox bounded off across the waves, his nine tails a writhing mass as he headed southeast.

Eyes wide at the beast's speed, he shot a look at Shisui and Hinata. They stared back.

"Are we sure Naruto-kun actually won?" Kakashi asked lightly.

"Pretty sure," said Shisui.

"Kurama and Yuji have always had their own agenda," Itachi admitted.

* * *

Naruto couldn't sit still. He just couldn't; the anger was hitting him belatedly.

He had met them, those people responsible for making this whole mess. And he hadn't ranted at them for ruining his life. He had killed people! He had been in hiding his whole life because of them!

And he had swallowed it all and just been so fucking reasonable.

"Graaah!"

He stomped down corridors that opened up in front of him. The lobby apparently was entirely responsive to even the most muted thoughts, a big difference from his subconscious. He left Kurama meditating far behind him as he broke into a run, shouting and smacking the walls every now and then.

"I should have raved at them!" Should have. Could have. He still could, he supposed. He could wake Kushina up and punish her. But it seemed like it hadn't really been her idea in the end.

No, his sperm donor had that honour. Bastard.

He slowed to a walk and scrubbed his face with his palms. He could punish the ninja by leaving him to rot in the Shinigami's stomach, but that would leave half of Kurama in there, and that whole beautiful bit of calm to get his blood parents to talk him through breaking Minato's seal would be wasted.

He turned to walk back to Kurama, who was loping over the waves with easy grace he envied and more speed than Naruto could muster at his best.

"So, Sanbi?"

**"A pathetic sibling if there ever was one. He cannot even be trusted to keep out of trouble when he is free of the ninja that once trapped him."** Kurama sneered.

"Akatsuki isn't going to ignore him just because. Speaking of, what if this is a trap?"

**"You think that I would be troubled by the ones in that ninja book? The explosion expert? The freak? His immortal fanatic partner? The fish man? No, they are ants."**

"And if that Uchiha is there?"

Kurama's eyes narrowed and he huffed. **"That Itachi was supposed to have dealt with him by now…"**

"Tough. Looks like he hasn't, so it's a possibility."

**"Good thing he's behind us then if this is a trap. It will force him to fulfill his part of the bargain."**

"True. He'll be hours behind us at this speed though."

**"Isobu will show us. He comes."**

Naruto got to see first hand as a wave of watery bullets filled the horizon. "Holy shit!"

**"Relax,"** grumbled Kurama, halting and falling through the water's surface into the icy depths.

Naruto gasped as he got the physical feedback. "If you don't do something, I'm gonna freeze to death!"

**"Your pathetic constitution is disturbing."**

"Humans operate best within a certain range of temperatures. Too hot and we roast in our own juices. Too cold and we freeze to death. We're not chakra pretending to be flesh: we are flesh."

Kurama sighed as he broke the sea's surface, a nimbus of fiery chakra making the water around him steam and bubble.

* * *

"I can see them; they're in range again! They've just surfaced!" Hinata called over the wind whistling in their ears as they raced over the black waves.

Itachi peered into the distance, hoping his Sharingan would compensate for the darkness, but it was useless: Hinata's range of vision was simply too great to compete with.

"Kyuubi appears unharmed and about the same size as before. Sanbi is… He is enormous! He is charging them! They've dodged! They've knocked him over with a powerful blast!"

"Any sign of Akatsuki?" Itachi asked, wrinkling his nose as salty spray from Shisui's sandals splashed into his mouth.

"Not yet. The fox is assembling brilliant chakra of two types I've never seen before, little balls forming a larger one. He's holding it with his tails as he runs Sanbi in circles."

"He's going to swallow it soon. Make sure it's not aimed our way when he releases it."

"He's leading Sanbi southeast again!"

"What?" all three older ninja snapped.

"Still carrying the ball… He's beyond my range. Sanbi's following… He's gone too."

"Shit!" Shisui growled, picking up the pace.

"Water bullets incoming! A wide spray. We need to deviate half a kilometre west to avoid them."

"Any chance of manoeuvring through them?" asked Itachi.

Grimacing, Hinata narrowed her eyes and finally nodded. "Two hundred metres to the right. The scattering is far less dense. Some will fall away before it reaches us."

"Good."

They danced through the bullets that still populated the hole Hinata had found and picked up speed again.

"Are they in range?"

"No!"

Damn.

* * *

"Two?" Naruto asked Kurama, who was meditating, generating chakra.

**"Two. They're both standing on that clay bird. One is blond."**

"Deidara. Interesting choice. He's an Iwa-nin, so he should have earth techniques to counter Sanbi with. What about the other guy?"

**"Squat man, like the sketch. He is strange in my eyes: his ill intent is clouded. Matatabi would hate him."**

"Why?"

**"He probably shouldn't still be alive. The cat despises those that try to evade death."**

"How come?"

**"Didn't you listen to any of the folk tales? Nibi serves the Shinigami. He enforces death."**

"So Matatabi's supposed to wipe out zombies and stuff?"

**"Exactly."**

"Isn't that kind of hypocritical? Aren't nekomata the ones that animate corpses?"

Kurama smirked. **"They are."**

"Huh. Okay. You gonna shoot them out of the sky?"

Kurama's smirk widened. A veritable stream of small bijuudama sprayed towards the bird, the trajectory of each scattered slightly from the first in order to ensure that at least one of the balls would connect. At the same time, a handful of small clay beings whizzed away from the bird.

The bird closed its wings and dropped like a stone only to zip to one side with a mighty beat of its wings, but Kurama was tenacious even as Sanbi closed from behind. **"Fool turtle brat, piss off. I don't have time for you right now since you're so incompetent you can't even deal with your attackers."**

Naruto's eyes widened as words echoed in the lobby.

**_"But, Kurama, you blasted me! I don't think that was very nice!"_ **

**"And you shot me. You are also incredibly annoying and pathetic. Go splash in a corner or something until I have something for you to do."** Kurama casually used a shockwave to blast away the little clay dragons homing in on him, making them explode into little chunks.

**_"I'm sorry… I'll go…"_ **

Naruto arched an eyebrow at the ceiling as Kyuubi whipped his head around to reveal Sanbi dejectedly sinking beneath the waves. "What the actual fuck? You weren't kidding when you said something about him being spineless."

**"He creates storms to avoid letting anyone get close enough to confront him."**

In the sky, the bird had been blasted into clay clumps and the two Akatsuki members were falling. Kurama swallowed a load of chakra only to spit out a moderate bijuudama at the water below the falling ninja. The choppy waves exploded into a white plume, destroying the surface the ninja could have landed and stood on.

**"Isobu, drown them."**

**_"I… Okay."_ **

A maelstrom formed under the last bit of the falling spray from the plume. Naruto began counting off the seconds. The bingo book had said that Deidara only knew Earth-style jutsu and explosives, so he probably didn't have any jutsu that could prevent him from drowning. The other one though… "If the other one is undead, can he drown?"

**"Probably not. I'll incinerate him when the other one is dead."**

"Konoha would probably like to question one of them."

Kurama cracked an eye open and peered down at him. **"Am I supposed to care what Konoha wants?"**

"No, not really. However, I'd like to have some questions answered too, like who the big guns are, what their weaknesses are, and where they can be found."

**"So we can face them or so we can avoid them?"**

"A bit of both."

**"You forget that I'm Kyuubi no Kitsune. It doesn't matter who opposes me."**

"And if there's an Uchiha? That orange mask guy might be with them."

**"The undead one will be easier to retrieve."**

Naruto waited until Kurama's eye was tightly shut again before he stifled snickers.

* * *

Itachi arrived as the sun was heading for the horizon, despite the afternoon hour. The choppy water was strewn with wooden flotsam. Then he saw one piece was a scorched wooden arm.

"Puppets…" hissed Shisui. "Probably nearly a hundred."

"Naruto-san is on the floating platform in the middle of the wreckage," said Hinata, pointing.

"Kyuubi's chakra?" asked Itachi.

"Mostly buried."

"And Sanbi?"

Hinata gestured helplessly with her hands. "Not in sight."

"Let's go then."

The platform was very small, kept afloat by three watertight casks, and its canvas surface was covered in seal patterns. Yuji sat in the middle, watching them approach. "You caught up."

"We did. What happened?" Itachi noted the scroll in Yuji's hands.

"Kurama and Isobu kicked some Akatsuki and puppet ass." Yuji held up the scroll. "Deidara, formerly of Iwa, is dead. I've got someone else here too. He's alive, if you can call it that, and should be good for answering questions. I can't interrogate him. He's got a puppet for a body, so the physical torture techniques I've learned are no good against him. I figure you've got somebody in Konoha who can handle him, so I propose a trade."

Yuji looked them over as Itachi mulled over the information so bluntly delivered. "You guys look wiped out. Come, sit down. You've got water and stuff?"

Itachi nodded as Hinata scrambled onto the platform and nearly flopped down, her eyes deactivating for the first time since yesterday afternoon as her visible eye's lid drooped.

"Come on. Don't worry; it's not going to flip. I've got seals stabilizing it or I'd have drowned in my sleep on the way up north."

Kakashi sank down near his student as Shisui sat cross-legged on the opposite side of the platform and began digging around in his pack. Itachi sat directly in front of Yuji, nodding thanks to Shisui when his friend passed him some jerky.

"What do you want to trade for?" asked Itachi.

"Information. No favours this time."

"Info on what? On what this man has to say?"

Yuji nodded. "That and I want to know everything you guys have found out about Akatsuki and the orange mask guy since me and the perverted hermit parted ways in the Red City."

Itachi mused on that. "How am I supposed to get the results of the interrogation to you?"

Yuji scowled at him. "How do you think?"

Raising his hands in a placating gesture, Itachi shrugged. "I was asked to check if you would return with us if you were successful."

"I'm not going within a hundred clicks of Danzou willingly."

Frowning, Shisui butted in. "You know about Danzou?"

"My dad's his clansman. He warned me about the bastard." Something about Yuji's expression told Itachi that Yuji was not being entirely forthcoming. The wrath directed at the Shimura leader was too potent and personal to stem from hearsay.

"Very well, you will not return to Konoha. I will get the information to you the usual way."

Yuji nodded curtly. "You gonna force me back?"

"Shisui probably could, but you still owe the Hokage some favours."

The boy studied him with narrowed blue eyes. "You try me."

Itachi activated his Sharingan, understanding. He didn't find himself in the basement mental space he remembered. Instead, he was in a stairwell. Light glowed from the exit above.

He climbed only to find himself in a well lit, dry hallway. The walls flickered with bits of text, scraps of landscapes (sandy dunes, a stone cell, ivory skyscrapers against an inlet's blue waters and the dusty bluffs framing it, crowded markets), and objects (a sand tray, scrolls, electronics in a glass storefront, a table covered in cosmetics).

"Stop staring." Yuji appeared at the end of the hallway. "Welcome to the lobby. No point in going downstairs. Kurama's moved up in the world. He wants a word."

"Kakashi is here to keep an eye on me and Shisui. I would rather not make him suspicious."

"We'll be quick, I promise. So, Orange Mask?"

"My mother has gotten one report in all this time. He was with Akatsuki's brass. He didn't wear their uniform, but he was with them."

"Only one sighting. Kurama's gonna be pissed. He was hoping Orange Mask would be dead by now."

"I cannot defeat what I cannot track down."

"I get you, but Kurama's kind of been in a snit about it. It's why we finally left Wind Temple." Yuji gestured to the fox, who was pacing the large chamber the hallway connected to. A walled pool appeared in the centre of the room, its stone sides covered in seals. Kurama ambled over to crouch at its edge. "Okay, memory sharing. Itachi, you go first. Akatsuki and masked man. Finger in the pool." Yuji plunked his whole hand in.

Itachi followed suit as Kurama stuck his strange hand in as well. "Now what?"

**"Visualize the information, call it up. Will it towards us. Focus on which of the senses the information is meant for."**

Itachi shut his eyes for better focus and flipped through the memories one by one, pushing them out.

**"Hmm. So they had a base in River that was empty except for Shukaku's host's corpse. The extraction method isn't known yet."**

"Sucks. You don't have any details from Kumo about how Nii died?" asked Yuji as Itachi opened his eyes.

"No. Kumo was not interested in being forthcoming as far as I know."

"Crap. Your turn. Kurama's gonna share the fight. Pay attention to the end. You need to know about the puppet bastard."

Itachi lived through the kitsune's memories, though none of the feelings aside from sight and sound came through this time. "Sasori of the Red Sand…"

"Who?"

"He was famous during the Third Shinobi War. His ability to control multiple puppets made him a problem for Konoha's forces. He disappeared from Suna later on… That's the Third Kazekage!" Itachi grimaced as the images flicked through his mind. "That solves one mystery. Chiyo of Suna will not be pleased if this gets out."

"I don't even want to know," Yuji said. "Your shitty ninja politics are enough to drive anyone mad."

Itachi was silent, mulling over Kurama's strength. It was awing just how casually he had dealt with this Akatsuki duo. He was very glad Yuji was more intent on avoiding Konoha than letting Kurama exact revenge on it.

"Oi, Itachi. Where's the Uzumaki Mask Hall?"

His eyes snapped open. "… In Konoha."

"Yeah, I got that. Where?"

"On the outskirts, along the southwest section of the wall. It's abandoned and mostly ruined; there was a proposal to reclaim the land for a shopping district, but the Sandaime shot it down without even looking at it. Why?"

Yuji only smiled. "That's not part of our bargain."

**"Out."**

Itachi found himself on the floating platform again with all of his teammates studying his and Yuji's standoff intently. He blinked, and Shisui snorted and took a bite of his apple. "Already done? That didn't take long."

"Shoosh! I kicked him out, so I won," Yuji grumbled. He slapped the scroll into Itachi's hands. "I'm gonna sleep now, so no funny business unless you wanna swim. Well, freeze is more accurate. Swimming kind of becomes a physical impossibility after a while."


	19. Chapter 19

Itachi came awake ten minutes before his watch was supposed to start and found Shisui staring at their host in the gloom. The platform rocked gently upon the sea's swells, and light clouds obscured the stars but could only dampen the light of the waxing moon. Keeping his eyes nearly shut and his breathing relaxed despite how he doubted Shisui had failed to detect his waking, he studied his cousin. There was something about his expression that Itachi couldn't quite place.

"The bijuu is awake within him, you know," Shisui said conversationally.

Activating his Sharingan, Itachi took in the orange chakra aura colouring the boy's body. The boy's natural chakra was yellow, bright and full of life. The Kyuubi's chakra was almost sullen embers in comparison.

"He doesn't trust any of us." Shisui sounded sad. "He could have been stronger than any Uchiha, partnered with the Kyuubi. He's an Uzumaki. He would have done very well in Konoha."

"Do you think those who hate us for possibly being traitors would treat Kyuubi's container any better?" Itachi asked, sitting up.

Shisui grimaced. "No. I suppose not. But Konoha would have won him over anyway. The village is just like that."

**"And I would have told you nothing."**

Itachi turned to meet those red, slitted eyes. "You cooperated only because you knew the boy would turn from us?"

**"I suspected. He was ripe for it. Taking his mother opened that crack, created that fissure of hatred. Hatred is mine, always."** Kurama-san smiled with Yuji's lips, showing off the boy's teeth in a somehow sinister manner.

"And now that you have both cast aside the Yondaime's seal, what is your course, Kurama-san?"

**"That is my business, Uchiha."**

"I apologize for pressing, Kurama-san, but I must ask, on behalf of my village. Is it your intention to mete out vengeance upon Konoha?"

Kurama sat up and arranged his blankets over his crossed legs before meeting Itachi's gaze again, smirking. **"My business. The boy's business too, I suppose. My only business with you is the death of the Uchiha behind the orange mask. When can I expect that completed? Another three years? I grow tired of waiting… I acted in good faith and passed along information, as required of our bargain. Am I to assume that you only fulfill your half of a deal when it is convenient for you and your village, Uchiha? Or should I add your clan to that list, higher up?"**

"The village's needs are of supreme importance. Only my dearest loved ones rank higher. I have only received one report of the man I hunt, but that is no excuse for tardiness." Itachi bowed, pressing his forehead to the canvas. "Please forgive me and grant me some more time."

Kurama-san shook his head. **"Time is not what you need. You know how he moves."**

"Will you tell me his location then?"

A golden eyebrow arched higher. **"'Will', not 'can'? You assume I am capable of this."**

"You knew where Sanbi was."

Kurama snorted. **"I called him to me. And he came, as I knew he would."**

"You headed right in his direction. You knew where he was all along. And you knew where his attackers were on his trail."

Kurama-san laughed. **"Ah, you assume much, Uchiha. Bold. But you know that even if I gave you the masked one's location, it would not help you."**

"His teleportation jutsu… Yes, that presents a problem."

Kurama-san nodded. **"Yes. Which is why you need bait, not his location."**

Itachi saw the whole conversation as a single thread suddenly and blanched. "You cannot mean—!"

**"You will see it is necessary. Try it your way for a time. Rely upon the resources of the village you love so much. You have two months. After that time is done, I will force your hand."**

"If I succeed, I demand the village's safety be assured."

Kurama narrowed his eyes. **"The terms of our bargain on my side have already been met, as I reminded you."**

"You added a further condition."

**"And you have wasted three years already. I am within my rights."** There was a growl in his voice now. **"Because I am generous, I will give you more within our original terms. South. He is south."**

"South is a large area, Kurama-san."

**"North of your village, south of us. Not now, of course, but he is often at one place."**

"Recently?"

**"Very."**

Itachi studied the bijuu. The fox was being very careful, not giving away his range of perception by specifying a time. "Rice? Forest? Frost? Lightning? Hot Spring? Fire?"

**"Cold reading will not work, Uchiha."**

"Of course not, Kurama-san. I apologize." Directly south then. Definitely not Lightning or Hot Spring. That narrowed the search somewhat. He would have to ask Shisui if the bijuu had given himself away in some other way to eliminate further possibilities to Shisui's better eyes.

**"If you continue to try my patience, Uchiha, I will be forced to do something unfortunate."**

Itachi froze. "His family is in Konoha."

**"His hatred is mine, Uchiha. And you seem to think that he could stop me. Perhaps you should look up the definition of 'partners' when you return home."** With a last smile, Kurama-san settled back under his blankets and went back to sleep.

After a few moments of motionlessness, Shisui reached over and squeezed Itachi's shoulder before retiring to his sleeping roll, leaving Itachi to his watch.

* * *

Naruto stood upon the lonely beach in the grey morning, listening to the rush of the surf, watching the waves break on the rocks in the bay. He took a deep breath of the cold sea breeze and let it out as a rush through the nose.

Another.

The salt was so familiar, but the rest of the smells were not. The Kinuzu was a different lady from the icy North Sea, she and her storms and her icy flotsam and her steel-coloured skies.

His Kinuzu was a capricious lady, to be sure, but she was balmy on her good days, loving of those who properly worshipped her and paid heed to her whims.

Naruto had never been in love with a woman, but he imagined that what he felt for the Kinuzu was close.

She was his home and his desire. He had sailed upon her, but it would never be enough, not while not being the captain of his own ship, not while not free to interpret her will without the captain's voice between him and her.

The Treatise Sea, for all its wonders, could never compare with his southern belle. And the North Sea was a poor third.

**_My sibling doesn't help matters, I suppose._ **

_You'd suppose right. As awesome as his storms are, he's not the voice of the Lady._

He could feel the ninja at his back, watching him despite how he ignored them. They were subtle. Hatake did not seem to watch at all, studying the route south on his map. Shisui was chuckling as Itachi checked through his pack. Only, oddly, Hinata watched him openly. Her single milky eye was unnerving, despite the lilac tinge that made the separation between sclera and iris a bit more obvious than he had expected from a Hyuuga.

Twisting braids—visible to him for the first time now that she had abandoned her tuque—kept her sheer dark hair out of the way, though long bangs swept over her useless eyepatch.

He wondered if she resented Konoha as much as he did. Her life had similarly been sacrificed upon the village's altar.

They studied each other blatantly, lilac meeting blue, until she started towards him, leaving her pack with Hatake.

When she stood beside him, she faced the sea and delicately sniffed the wind as well. "You are from here. This is your place."

"You think so, huh?" He smiled wryly.

"Not quite, I suppose," she admitted. "In my briefing, it mentioned the south."

"Yeah."

"You didn't seem to do badly in the snow."

He chuckled. "Nah. You should have seen me on the way up there. I wouldn't have made it without Ku-man."

He could have sworn that he saw her lips twitch out of the corner of his eye at the name.

"My partner scoffed and complained, but he's a solid guy. Kept me from freezing to death and drowning. Couldn't ask for a better guy to share a body with. Useful too."

**_Flattery and derogatory remarks in the same breath. Should I be impressed?_** Kurama's tone was so dry Naruto had to laugh.

Hinata glanced his way openly. "Do you really not fear him?"

He laughed again. "Of course! Scares me shitless sometimes. Same way my brother could. Or my mom. He's a person, so he's got danger and mercy all mixed up in him, same as anyone else."

"And you, do you have mercy in you?"

His brow crinkled as he peered at her. "I thought I told you I'm a pathetic coward."

"Even a coward can kill. I can see it in you. The guilt. Subtle. It is there though. Were they Kyuubi's kills? Or were they yours?"

"I was told that the Hyuuga saw chakra. Kind of pretentious to pretend to read minds there, kunoichi-san."

"My job is to look. People don't expect me to be very good at it, being a pathetic blind Hyuuga. But I can look deeper because they don't expect me to see anything other than a blur. My 'handicap' is my disguise."

"Can you see normally out that one eye?"

"Would I wear a patch if I could?"

He snorted. "Oh, I doubt that patch hinders your Byakugan. But can you see light? Do you ever take it off?"

She sniffed but didn't answer.

"Do you hate your father?" he asked quietly.

She stiffened, and he could feel Kurama shuffling around in response to her rage.

He quickly continued. "I just met mine. He sealed a bit of himself into me. He did this to me for the village. He ruined my life for his precious village. He killed himself, perpetuating a flawed system, out of belief in a prophecy made by a senile old toad. He messed with a god…" Naruto shook his head. "I'm terrified of my blood father. He was insane. A murderer so terrifying that I probably won't ever dare set foot in Earth Country just in case my henge breaks.

"Kunoichi-san, I didn't mean to offend you. I only wanted to know if I'm as horrible as I suspect I am because I hate mine."

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before sound actually came out. "I do not hate him," she whispered. "But it is very hard not to be sad that I am a disappointment for reasons beyond my control. My sister will inherit. I will never be more than a chuunin. I will always be Konoha's martyr child, a living reminder of a war that should have ended so many years before it did.

"There are some parents in Konoha that blame me. Their children died fighting in the years after I was not successfully kidnapped."

"That's awful!" he hissed, spinning to face her with his stern frown.

She shrugged, but she was stiff. "They suspect, as you do, that my injuries were exaggerated. It is so easy to point fingers at the fake cripple."

"You were three! What were you going to do? Crawl out of your hospital bed and hand yourself over?"

"The war did not end until just before I turned thirteen—I was already a genin, of responsible for myself. Plenty of time to learn of my shame, so they say, and walk myself over enemy lines to repent.

"I thought about it a few times," she admitted, that one eye staring straight into his. "I am certain they would deal with me two ways: extract my eyes and then impregnate me in hopes of breeding a Hyuuga clan of their own. That was probably not the original plan: I was young enough they could have brainwashed me into being one of them and bearing them Hyuuga children willingly."

Naruto forced down nausea. He had always known that was what had been in her future had Kumo succeeded in its capture of her, but somehow hearing her talk about her maiming and rape was worse.

"I am sorry. That was too frank." She pursed her lips. "But we are similar, you and I. Both sacrifices. Neither one as useful as intended, I despite my best efforts, and you by trying your damnedest to not be. Why am I loyal, and why are you not?"

"They took something I didn't want to give," he growled.

"What?"

"My mother. My choices. It's something maybe you don't have in that village; in the South, we know we have choices. It's part of the culture. Granted, without Ku-man, I wouldn't have followed through, but I wouldn't have obeyed happily. Ever."

She frowned. "It makes sense, I suppose. You have never been to Konoha. You do not treasure it, as I do, as we all do. You do not see yourself as a ninja, so you don't see how Konoha is a safe place for us, one of the few."

He shot her a skeptical look. "In my experience, ninja are the most dangerous things out there."

"Perhaps," she admitted. "But socially, we do feel the censure and envy. We have something civilians do not: power. They do not like us for it. They cannot."

Naruto scoffed. "Look, monks have the same power as you ninja. Most of them. Are civilians terrified that a monk is going to squash them like a bug? Mostly not. Wanna know why?"

Her eye was wide.

"Because we trust monks. We believe in their morality and their compassion. Ninja don't have that kind of reputation, and for good reason. They abuse their power, use it in ways that cause great harm. You're not going to convince me that ninja carry kunai and shuriken just for the heck of it. They've got sharp edges for one reason: to cut their target."

She was scuffing her sandal in the sand now, unable to meet his eyes. "We can do great good."

"But enough of you don't."

She kept quiet now. He was kind of glad. She had just told him that she didn't hate her father, which left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He had had two dads, and he was angry with both of them now, plus his godfather. Probably best to quit while ahead in the father department.

"Hinata," Itachi called, and she quickly trotted over to Hatake to claim her pack.

Naruto turned to Itachi and shook his hand. "I expect to get word about the results of your interrogation of the puppet dude soon."

"If you came back with us, you would get the results sooner."

"I'd rather not, thanks. This is as far south as we're going with you. Me and Ku-man have places to go and people to see. Big plans and all that. We'd rather not be handy to Akatsuki when the shit hits the fan, just in case Orange Mask decides to show his face. We might pop in to view his corpse when you keep up your end of the bargain, but until then, we're gonna fall off the map."

Itachi nodded solemnly. "I will pass along what news I can. Good luck locating your mother."

"You really don't know where she is, huh."

Itachi frowned. "You suspect Tsunade-sama knows?"

Naruto just shrugged. "I can always hope that you have superpowers."

The Konoha jounin raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"We'll see when we see you, Uchiha Itachi. Get yourself elected by then, huh? We've been waiting."

That got a weak smile out of the too solemn man, but it was enough. Naruto waved as the squad disappeared over the bluff and into the distance, south.

_Ten kilometres._ He sighed and began meandering east along the beach. The last thing they needed was Hinata knowing they were heading south.

**_That Itachi has admitted. Her range is probably greater. Best I not run us off._ **

_Shapeshifting isn't really very subtle,_ he agreed. _It is pretty cool though. I think… I think I'm going to be myself again, no matter what._

**_It's a waste of chakra._ **

_I don't care._ He shucked off his jacket and pulled his luggage scroll out of his pocket, sending the garment elsewhere and leaving him in a light sweater. He pulled up the hem and peered down at the marks that appeared on his belly as he tapped chakra-infused fingers on the skin at certain points. The broken seal around his belly button appeared as well, strangely forlorn looking in its unlocked state. He found the right activator mark, somewhere near where his stomach tucked under his ribs, and traced some chakra lines to set things into motion.

His skin darkened. He couldn't see it, but he knew his eyes were back to their proper brown and that his hair was like his mom's again.

"I am Yuji," he whispered.

**_Your identity issues are going to get annoying._ **

_There is no issue here. How hard is it to just roll with it? I am whoever I am. And who cares if that changes by the day? It's not like there's anyone other than you waiting for me to be someone forever._

**_I suppose I should not complain, even if it does keep Root from finding us. I could use some action._ **

_You had better be joking. You smashed that Akatsuki pair two days ago. And your sibling. And if Root does find us, we'll know for a fact that Danzou has ears in Tsunade's office or has access to the journal._

**_Or he could be logically searching for us based on our last location in Inakara. Spiralling out from that city would bring them into an intersecting course with us eventually. You did cause quite a stir there._ **

_I am more than generous enough to share the blame for that. You were the one that wanted to go in no matter what. And you were the one determined to smash our way out of any barrier with sheer destructive force._

Instead of the quip he expected in reply, he got a brief pause. **_Generous enough to let me try something?_**

Chills seized Yuji's chest. _What?_

**_I am yang chakra. Yang is physical. My chakra is free to come out as I will now that the seal is gone. I want to try a simple bunshin._ **

_So long as you leave some chakra in me._ Yuji felt Kurama take the reins and watched as his hands went through the simple bunshin handseal sequence. Youki flowed out and manifested into a sallow clone. Too much chakra had that effect upon this delicate jutsu. Yuji had gotten better at it over the years, but Kurama was not trying to be delicate. The clone blinked slowly at them, and then began to change, shifting from bipedal to quadrupedal and morphing into the more vulpine skeletal configuration. Orange and black fur sprouted and finally Yuji was meeting the eyes of Kurama, who was about as big as a small horse.

The beast raised its head, those large ears swivelling, the fur flattening or bunching in the wind, and scented before yawning widely, revealing those familiar teeth. He barked lowly, testing out his voice, and grinned.

Yuji grinned back. _Communication still working?_

**_Of course. The jutsu is too delicate for me to manifest more than a sixth of my might. I'll have to adjust it._ **

_So my body is pretty sturdy, hmm?_

**"To be sturdier than an E-rank jutsu is no great feat, brat."**

Yuji just laughed, glad to hear his friend's voice affected by the wind for the first time. "Good?"

The beast settled on its haunches and scratched an ear, grinning slightly.

"A good smell?"

**"There is rotten fish and seaweed being used as fertilizer not too far away. There are farms just over the bluffs."**

"This is Rice Country. I'm pretty sure. Gotta be careful. Whores have said Orochimaru's minions hang out around here. Not sure Orochimaru cares about us, but better safe than sorry."

Kurama showed off his toothiest grin. **"It would be good to fight without the risk of having you take over halfway."**

"Hey! Sometimes that was necessary, Mr Destruction-on-four-feet! You could have levelled the North Bazaar of Silicon City if I hadn't interfered!"

**"It was dark!"**

"It was still busy enough! There are some good food stalls there! Stupid Root agents and their awful timing! Why don't they care more about property damage?"

**"My understanding is that Konoha gets paid enough for every mission they take on to cover any covert operations Root may perform. The village is also given basic funding by Fire."**

"Huh. No wonder everyone hates paying taxes so much. Those Matsuku people must be especially pissed that their taxes are funding the very thing they're fighting against. I wonder if they have accountants helping them slip out of paying as much as possible."

Kurama snorted. **"That would be against their social conscience creed. Some taxes go into hospitals and other public projects that benefit society as a whole."**

Yuji raised an eyebrow. "I can't see Kushina knowing that much about how Fire is run. Mito?"

Kurama grudgingly nodded and trotted over the wet sand to investigate a pile of driftwood and seaweed the last storm must have thrown so far beyond high tide. Yuji grimaced at the huge footprints the beast left behind. That was not going to make whoever walked this beach after them very happy. He glanced at the fox again and hid a soft grin at how delicate and dignified Kurama was being when he could tell the fox was about ready to bounce out of his fresh skin.

"I'm gonna scout ahead, okay? There's gotta be a good place for us to start cutting south." He sprinted across the sand, his calves beginning to burn with exertion. Only when he had a good kilometre on the fox did he dare glance back and grin openly at how Kurama was bounding in and out of the surf like a kid.

He chuckled softly before rubbing a hand across his stomach. He was not looking forward to basically committing seppuku. He was not used to pain anymore. Kurama kept him in one piece for the most part, despite his "colossal stupidity and moronic love of leaping off high places". He never stayed injured for more than a day, and the worst he had dealt with since Kurama had figured out how to speed-heal him after singeing his skin off was a hairline fracture in his tibia and a couple deep gashes from days he had been particularly unlucky with Root attacks.

Also, he was beginning to realize that if this seal was old, there might be some very bad things sealed away in the Shinigami's stomach that releasing his father and Kurama's yin half might set loose upon the world again. He was going to be as bad as Namikaze: he was going to mess with a god. Groaning, he ran his hand over his face.

"I fucking hate being a hypocrite," he muttered.

* * *

Yuji was fly fishing in a river a little ways up from where it emptied into the North Sea when Kurama's body caught up with him.

**"It is hardly a good time for fishing. The cold affects them."**

Yuji shrugged and stashed his rod back in the scroll. "Just felt like it. Missed it."

**"You went after mollusks more often than fish, as I recall."**

Yuji smirked. "True. But I don't feel like wading in those icy waters again yet just for some mussels. Besides, all the rocks out there are covered in barnacles; I don't want to slice myself to ribbons early." He shuddered. "We out of her range, you think?"

The beast nodded. **"They are moving quickly. Hard to track though. None of them feel ill intent towards me or you strongly enough to keep a firm fix on."**

Yuji raised a brow. "Even with your bad cop routine scaring the shit out of Itachi last night?"

**"Worry is not the same thing as hatred."**

"Of course, of course, oh hatred master. Seriously, you realize putting a deadline on his hunt is going to cramp our style. Who knows where the hell we're gonna be in two months?"

**"We will be coming back, apparently, to enforce my time limit."**

Yuji rolled his eyes and pulled out a couple ramen packs, some vegetables, and a pot. "Lunch? You eat anything strange while you were sniffing your way over here at the speed of turtles?"

Kurama swatted him with two tails in quick succession, showing off his teeth only a little. **"How many times do I have to tell you that I am not physical flesh like you? I do not need to eat."**

"And yet the monks told me about the time you swallowed those two guys whole, those Kumo weirdos. Why even have a stomach if you don't really need one?"

**"I was hoping my stomach acid would finish them,"** the fox grumbled, curling up on the sand and resting his jaw on his forelegs as Yuji activated the seal he had scratched into the pot's sides with a nail, which filled it with water and applied heat quickly enough to have the water boiling in short order.

Clearing some sand of debris like dried seaweed that would ignite upon contact with the hot metal if his luck was particularly bad, Yuji continued. "That's just weird. You know that right? I don't understand why the Sage gave you physical forms at all. Wasn't Juubi a big-ass tree? Why is a portion of his chakra a mammal?"

Kurama sighed. **"My father gave us forms that best reflected what he saw in us. I am clever and canny, so a fox. Shukaku is brazen and foolish, so a tanuki suited him."**

Yuji snorted as he made rings of green onions that were only slightly slimy after staying in the dimension that held his supplies when he stored them in seals. The boiling water ought to keep anything from making him sick. Hopefully. Cooking was something he only barely understood. The nuns at Wind Temple had handled food, with the exception of a few monks that were enthusiastic chefs. At home, Mom and Dad and later Seiichi had shared cooking duties, but it hadn't been expected of him yet. And on the road with Jiraiya, they ate out. Always.

He dropped the wad of instant noodles into the pot and stirred with a chopstick as he counted out the seconds aloud. Once the time was up, he snapped a carved magnet onto a particular seal marking on the pot, which stopped the heat application seal.

_Hey, I was wondering… You know how you've been split in two, physical and spiritual? Can you actually become one being again, or will you be like a starfish that got cut in half, forever two separate foxes? Or would you be the physical fox when you get free of me and the other half would be a ghost half because it's only yin chakra and can't make a physical vessel the way you can?_

Kurama was silent for a time as Yuji waited for his meal to cool off enough to eat. **_We are one, chakra and intent._**

_Is that your mystical way of saying you don't know?_

**_Silence, brat._ **

_Just before we cut my guts open, I vote for putting up a chakra binding barrier, to try to trap anything that might try to escape. Who knows how sane your other half is after being digested for sixteen years?_

Kurama snorted.

_Fusing you back together… Chakra's supposed to be easy to manipulate, but half of your soul is mixed with it. Youki doesn't quite obey the usual rules, huh?_

**_The monk Hikmat did verify that, yes. Human chakra is as different from youki as water and alcohol. Both a liquid, but vast differences in some properties: water doesn't burn._ **

_What about toad chakra?_

**_Creatures of flesh and bijuu is the divide I speak of. Though toads and other animals capable of manipulating chakra tend to have mastery over a mingling with the nature component, which changes the properties as well, we'll say oil._ **

_Hmm. Well, I guess I'll do some reading tonight. Spirit manipulation of a joining sort isn't something Hikmat went over with me. You and I needed the opposite effect._

**_True._ **

Yuji snared some of his ramen straight from the pot with his chopsticks and blew on it until the steam coming off it looked less menacing in the chilly air. _I think you should come back in and drive us to Konoha. Speed is key if we're gonna beat Itachi back and be in and out. He suspects something from our questions about the shrine. Best to beat his warning to the village._

**_Of course._ **

_I think we should hit the Kinuzu again after this. Further south though. Maybe the Southern Isles. There are supposed to be interesting seal masters and monks there. Better to get off the continent. Akatsuki's gonna figure out what happened to that pair eventually._

**_I do not like running from a fight… But yes, it is as good a place as any to work on separating._ **

* * *

He was kind of nervous, he admitted to himself as he scrambled up to a bough high enough to see over the canopy. Steadying himself against another branch just barely strong enough to not snap under his weight, Yuji got his first glimpse of Konoha.

So this was the altar he had been sacrificed upon. How uninspiring. A large wall with a slow curve abutted a lump of a mountain. He couldn't quite make them out, but he knew that the Kage's faces were carved there, to look over the village they had ruled in life.

Had his mom really come here? Did she remember? Did she know what he had done? Or, as he had always suspected, was she someone else now, someone who had never loved a boy named Yuji?

Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself what they were here for: to erase some of the wrong that had been done the night of his birth, both to Kurama and to a human soul. _There's no black aura of evil._

**_Not to you, perhaps._ **

_And for you?_

**_It reeks._ **

Yuji sniffed, but he detected nothing. _I thought I was supposed to get access to your ill intent sense when we unlocked the seal?_

**_Only if I decide to share._ **

_Will you share then?_

Kurama was silent for a time. **_It will not be pleasant. I need to flood your system with my chakra._**

Yuji stayed passive and let the chakra come. Immediately, he groaned. There was a steady vibration thrumming in his ears and a sense of nausea as he stared at Konoha. If he glanced away, the nausea faded. _Is it ill intent towards you or me?_

**_A bit of both. You and I are often considered one entity. Much enmity is for me, but you and I have done reprehensible things in many eyes as well._ **

_Can it be narrowed down to a person or is it just an area?_

**_I can see individuals if I choose. You must be much closer, perhaps. On my scale, though, individuals do not matter. Do you consider the single ant when you rid yourself of an inconvenient anthill?_ **

Yuji rolled his eyes. _There you go, getting all sizeist again._

**_I am rather large._ **

_Fuck you._

**_I'm sure the last ant you stepped on said that just before your foot flattened him. And it has just as much effect._ **

**_In and out, fast. You promised._** Ku-man was further ahead, scouting. Running around and sniffing things out had yet to get old for the fox. It would have been adorable on something smaller than a horse, which Ku-man was not. It was kind of amazing anything that big and orange could be stealthy.

_I know, don't worry. I'd like to verify that you're right about your theory about my mom though._

**_We'll see. What do you see?_ **

Yuji frowned and peered closer. Smoke was rising over the walls at one spot… No, two. Observing for a few more minutes revealed more gouts of smoke and debris. _What the heck? I'd ask if you were up to something, but you don't sound happy enough._

**_Alas, I cannot take credit for this._ **

A chill went through him. _Mom… Seiichi…_ He would have been worried for his dad too, but Jiraiya had made it sound like he was hardly ever in the village. _What the heck is going on?_ he asked, bouncing out of the tree and running to catch up with the fox.

**_Some group with ill intent is attacking._ **

_An invasion?_

Kurama laughed and it echoed through the lobby. **_Boy, sometimes, it is difficult to tell one angry ant from another. When one is biting you, you could swear your fur was covered in them._**

He was too worried to make his usual sizeist comment as he sprinted between the trunks, bounding over underbrush. The canopy was too dense here to run through as his dad had taught him. Bouncing from one tree top to another would get him spotted by the wall guards too.

**_This way._ **

Yuji ricocheted from one trunk to another until he landed in a crouch by Kurama's side. The fox regarded him with one ear pinned back and another slightly up, his equivalent to arching an eyebrow.

**_I suppose it would be insensitive to say that the timing of this attack is convenient?_ **

Yuji scowled. _Fuck off._

Kurama sighed. **_Listen, boy, the wall is just over there. Any closer and we will run into the detection net that covers the whole of this village. It detects chakra signatures. Mine is obvious. Yours was registered just before you were taken from the village._**

_Mito again?_

**_They never expected me to be sealed in someone like you, or they considered me so inconsequential that they didn't realize that I was living in the soul of the wife of their Kage._ **

_I bet Kumo would love to interrogate you._

**_Hah, they've tried for me often enough, but I doubt it was for my intelligence._ **

Yuji nodded absently as he pulled a small scroll out of his pocket. He summoned the index scroll that he stored all the effects of the Root agent that had come after him. It was kind of grisly that he had some of their clothes and weapons, but he had been drilled in the value of a good disguise too often to abandon his dad's advice. _Who do you think?_

Kurama craned his head to study the list. **_Boar,_** he said, pointing to a pattern three from the end. **_His grave was particularly well hidden and recent enough they may still assume he is alive._**

_Good choice. I sucked a fair bit of chakra out of him to keep him subdued. He was a stubborn one. Didn't believe in my seals._ Yuji grimaced and began to strip down to his underwear. He hadn't done this before, but the idea was simple enough: use the chakra from Boar to create a thin mask over his skin.

Pulling out ink and a brush, he got to work, containing his own chakra by pinning it down on the arches of his feet, the backs of his hands, his elbows, and on the back of his neck, which was particularly tricky. Kurama had to take the brush and correct a couple markings there.

Taking the brush back, Yuji began laying down the frame of the mask on his forehead, his palms, the small of his back (which Kurama had to help with again), and his ankles. A few designs on his hip would link the chakra sucker seal with this new outlet when he put it in his pocket.

Kurama put a hand on his head and the water lingering in the ink steamed away, leaving the designs dry. It was damn handy to have a fire buff along.

He pulled on Boar's uniform and put the seal in his pocket. The clothes, which had been hanging loosely on his shorter and slighter frame, filled out as his henge faked the mass difference between him and Boar.

**_I do not think it wise for you to go in._ **

_And you think that the puny amount of chakra I have in this sucker seal can mask yours from the barrier? I can't shut yours down. You need it to stay physical._

**_As you like to keep reminding me, the Uchiha are a danger. Even with the village under attack, there is a chance we will be challenged. If an Uchiha confronts you, yes, I can break you from his control, but if there are two or more of them, then working together…_ **

_I see._ Yuji frowned. _I'll be careful. I want another clone to go searching for my mom too._

**_I know. What on earth are you going to do when I am gone? We need to find you a proper solid clone jutsu._ **

He shook his head. _With any luck, once we've parted ways, I won't have to bother with this nonsense ever again. I'll have my ship._ He turned to the wall. _You want me to cross here?_

**_Patrols are random, but humans thrive on patterns. There is a rhythm. There will be a break in five minutes. We should review your route. Things will have changed since I was last here, but with luck, the layout of the patrols will be similar._ **

Directions and landmarks flowed into Yuji's head. He nodded as he focused on each course change in turn. It could have just been a straight shot to the Uzumaki temple, but he had to maintain his ruse of being Boar. That meant he had to appear to head towards the Monument for a while, at least until he was past the scrutiny of the patrols. Of course, this was only if the patrols were still watching, which, given the screams and destruction he could hear over the walls, might not be so.

**_Ready?_ **

_Time!_ Yuji shot towards the wall, leaving the pony-sized Kurama bunshin behind to pace the walls and blast them to smithereens to get him out if need be.

* * *

Boar didn't let himself stop and stare as he bounded over the top of the wall, but it was hard. There was a giant dog with way too many heads running around, destroying buildings, and chasing around little ninja blurs.

The wind whipped Boar's black cloak as he launched himself towards the ground, keeping a tight hold on his terror for his family.

The moment he landed on a rooftop cistern, he pulled some of Kurama's raw chakra up and made a regular bunshin. It exploded into existence and quickly morphed into another pony-sized Kurama, which nodded to him and bounded away, its nine tails and fox form disappearing beneath a henge.

No time to lose.

* * *

The Temple of Masks was a dump. It smelled of damp wood and mildew and was collapsing.

_I don't like this._

**_Get inside, you ninny._ **

_Yessir._ Grimacing, he picked his way through the debris and carefully tested each step on the landing before the door before committing his weight. Several boards creaked ominously.

**_Hurry._ **

_Why? What are you seeing that I'm not?_

**_It seems that Akatsuki is the one attacking. This is a bad time for us to be here. There is a large amount of ill intent focused directly on you and I. Someone is ripping souls out of bodies near where I am searching. There are empty corpses all over the place._ **

_Holy shit. How is that even possible? Have you heard anything about them?_

**_I am attempting to find a special trio of ants in an anthill. This is going to take time. People say your father is away from the village. No one knows your brother so far; he must not be using any of the names we have for him. I do not have a proper name for your mother, so finding her is challenging. I heard that the lame one is dead._ **

_What?_

**_The ninja Jiraiya died in combat only a couple days ago._ **

Yuji blinked as his chest decided that breathing normally wasn't allowed anymore. _He… He's dead?_ He couldn't be. It had been only a couple weeks…

**_So rumours say. A group of ANBU looking over an empty corpse said something about this being the same as what a toad said had happened to Jiraiya._ **

Swallowing hard against the grief that wanted to come out, he ducked through the sagging doorway and eyed the ceiling warily as he tried to grasp the layout of the rooms. After spotting a hallway that led in deeper, he crept along it until it spilled into a gloomy room. Grimacing, he took in the rows of horrible masks covering the far wall in the light spilling from a gash in the ceiling. _What do you see?_

Kurama was silent for a time, but Yuji could sense him muttering as he inspected each mask through Yuji's eyes. **_That one._** The fox guided his hands to the correct one.

_You sure? If I grab the wrong one, we're both supposed to snuff it._

**_I know his face. Trust me._ **

_Okay._ Yuji snatched it down and tucked it under his arm. _How are things looking out there?_

**_Dicey. There seem to be several active players attacking. They are definitely searching for your family members. I found a man suffocating in a paper cocoon. He said a woman with blue hair kept asking him about a woman named Mae._ **

_So Jiraiya didn't know exactly where she was or what name she's using, or he managed to not tell Akatsuki everything._

**_Perhaps. I think I recognize what is going on. The summons … they have eyes I recognize. Rinnegan._ **

_Rinne—what?_

**_The same eyes as the Sage._ **

_… Holy shit! Holy shit, is there some reincarnated Sage here?_

**_No,_** Kurama said quickly. **_No, but someone uses the same eyes. There are specific powers for those eyes. The stories…_**

_Tangent. Which one and how is this immediately relevant?_

**_Human path can pull all secrets from the mind and soul of the victim. It inevitably results in death. If this was used on Jiraiya, then all he knew about you, me, and our situation is known to the one the ninja here call Pain._ **

_Well fuck. We can never go back to Wind Temple._

**_That's the least of our problems. If Jiraiya really did not know your mother's new situation beyond the knowledge that she is here, we have some time until the Rinnegan user pulls the right soul out and recognizes her. His victims seem to be both ninja and civilians, currently. We need to stall him._ **

_By giving him a better target, right?_

Yuji could sense Kurama's dissatisfaction. **_Unfortunately. This will destroy all the secrecy of our visit._**

_Can't be helped._

**_No. You get out. Head east. Get on a ship. Go to the South Islands or the lands beyond Water. We'll need to stay off this continent, not that we ever need to come back._ **

_Not without my mom,_ he warned as he sprinted for the wall, cutting across the rooftops to avoid the pandemonium beginning to pick up momentum in the streets. _Do you even have enough chakra to fake a battle?_

**_Even broken into a sixth, infinity is infinity._ **

* * *

Dragon–1 had been struggling to keep up with everything going on, with the single intrusion that had turned into so many explosions and foreign summoned beasts and fallen citizens, when yet another runner barged his way past those reporting to update the model of the situation in Konoha.

"In the main street!" he shouted, shoving his way past the last masked agent between him and Dragon–1. "Kyuubi is in the main street! He's blown up that centipede summon."

Dragon–1 allowed himself a brief moment to just stare. What? How? The fox boy was far north, opening the seal… Or was that report about Sanbi and Kyuubi's chakra accurate? And that had been only a few days ago…

Dragon–1 pointed at Dragon–24, who had been studying the model of Konoha as a runner pushed markers around. "Take over. My five with me." He sprinted out of headquarters with the agents assigned to be his assistants for the day on his heels. Once out atop the Monument, he stared down at the main thoroughfare cutting straight from the wall to Admin.

Kyuubi, much smaller than Dragon–1 remembered him, not even a twelfth of that size, was snarling a challenge to the skies.

Had Naruto lost? Dragon wondered with a chill as he led his team down the cliff face and onto a roof not too close to the beast. Were they all lost? Would Akatsuki take the Kyuubi, without the guidance of a sensible human mind and thus less than it could be as a jinchuuriki, for their own?

A figure in black and red landed in a crouch before the Kyuubi and raised a hand towards it. Buildings crumpled into rubble as they were blasted away from the man in a circle, but the Kyuubi didn't seem to move at all.

Dragon–1 blinked. Was it an illusion?

The Akatsuki man was suddenly ripped away from the ground, a stretchy arm formed of orange-red chakra shooting out of the street at his feet. He was smashed into the dirt a number of times by his leg before the hand was dissipated by another blast that took out more structures in his immediate area.

The moment the blast ceased, another chakra hand was squashing him flat and then squeezing him, breaking him grotesquely. One of the ANBU at Dragon's back squirmed as the Akatsuki agent's body was folded the wrong way in far too many points and left a broken wreck in the hand.

And Dragon was left staring again as the hand was blasted away by yet another push.

How? How could that man still be alive?

The truth dawned on Dragon–1 as the man failed to get up, his broken bones simply not working the way he expected them too.

He looked like a puppet with his broken limbs not responding to the puppeteer's manipulation of the strings correctly.

A corpse puppet, one with strings that didn't get cut.

And then five more men with the strange eyes dropped to the ground near the fallen one.

And Kyuubi no Kitsune laughed. And then he did something Dragon–1 had never in a million years expected: he spoke in an outmoded way that Dragon–1 knew could not belong to Naruto. **"This? This is all you can muster, you who inherited the might of my father? This pathetic technique is all you can accomplish, you who are the heir to the Sage, with his eyes? My father dreamed of peace and fought with the power of a berserker, of a god, to quiet the real god his mother unleashed upon the world. And here you are. And how torn was I! Could you truly be the Sage, my father come again? But no, I see only corpses and tricks, your hatred a blight upon this green earth. I sense you there, upon the mountainside! Know through your puppets that I am coming now for you. Know that I have judged you evil and unworthy of carrying on the Sage's name and I come to bring you death and release my brethren back into the world."**

And Kyuubi no Kitsune, ignoring the six assembled (the broken one somehow magically now unharmed while Dragon–1 had been distracted) and their belated attempts to stop him, dashed towards one of Konoha's nearby mountains, the six on his heels.

And with that, the attack of Akatsuki upon Konoha was apparently over. Jaw working for a few moments, Dragon–1 tried to get his bearings and then began issuing orders to switch from defence to cleanup while sending out teams to keep an eye on the actions of Kyuubi.

The quiet thought that perhaps they should have let Kyuubi solve this bijuu problem earlier was totally impossible, but it would not leave Dragon–1 alone.


	20. Chapter 20

Yuji leaned against a building in an alley as people ran past on the main roads bracketing it. Gritting his teeth, he summoned his travel scroll and sealed away the Shinigami's mask. Last thing he needed after this clusterfuck was to break the damn thing.

Kurama's declaration had echoed through the halls of his mind and soul. It was a decree. A divine one.

_What part of fake battle involves actually putting one side to death, huh?_ Yuji demanded, pressing his palms to his eyes. _You're fighting someone with the same powers that defeated the motherfucking Juubi! Hubris, Ku-man!_

**_He must be stopped,_** the damn fox growled (if a god could be damned… Drat, Yuji hated these philosophical questions. This was all Brother Hikmat's fault.) **_If he has inherited the Rinnegan, he inherited access to the shell, most likely._**

_What shell?_

**_The Juubi's body. It remained sealed within the Sage until his death, prolonging his life—_ **

_What?_

**_Do not interrupt!_ **

_But! But! You said there was no way to—!_

**_The Juubi was different! He had a physical aspect, as well as a chakra one. We bijuu are of the chakra. We have no true vessel. There is no correlation in our case. Back to the point: if this Rinnegan user was able to summon the Juubi's shell back from the moon—_ **

_The Moon?!_

**_Shut up! If he summoned the shell, and if he is putting my brethren into it, this is far more dangerous than we previously thought. Being made into a jinchuuriki is humiliating. Being put back into the Juubi is dire. We cannot afford to let this go. My father split Juubi for a reason!_ **

Crouching down, Yuji frowned as he considered this, the screams and shouts of Konoha's residents just white noise in the background. _Mathematically, there's a remainder when ten is divided into nine._

Kurama grunted. **_We can consider the vessel the remainder for the sake of getting you back on track._**

_Right. What are the issues, other than that you're going up against the Sage's powers with a twelfth of your might?_

**_If I am correct, and current evidence suggests I am, he has divided six paths of Rinnegan powers into six corpses. The only one that could truly hinder me is Preta Path: that is the absorption of chakra. Since I am solely chakra, if he touches me, I am removed from the hunt. I do not think he can do more than destroy the clone, but I would rather not find out. The endurance of the corpses is infinite while Naraka Path remains intact. He can renew that which is destroyed, be it death or lesser injury._ **

_Shit, they're immortal until you deal with that one. And you have no way of attacking the other one._ Yuji narrowed his eyes. _I guess Yin or Yang chakra, either way he can absorb it._

**_Correct._ **

_So me pushing up releasing your other half isn't useful. You need flesh to defeat him._

**_No._ **

_… No what?_

**_No, I would like to release another clone from you. Pincer moves are much more effective than me facing them straight on. I simply need to break Preta with physical objects: rocks, trees, and such. It seems that black metal rods are the strings the Rinnegan controls them through. Remove enough of them, and control breaks._ **

_Ah, stretchy arms. Damn useful. Anything else you need? One of them is a summoner, right?_

**_Correct, but summons burn just as well as any other form of protein._ **

A grin broke through. _You are such a pyro. Have at it._ Yuji felt the youki flow through him and another clone burst into existence. _Is one enough? Two would be safer._

**_We do not want to test the limits of how little of my chakra your vessel can cope with right now._ **

_Aw, you make me feel so loved, Ku-man._

The bunshin shot him a look after it morphed into fox form and then scrambled over the wall.

_Once you've cornered this guy's real body, then what?_

**_I pass judgement._ **

_That much I got. What about the vessel?_

**_Hmm, true. Best to return it to the moon, to prevent another group from attempting to undo what the Sage worked so hard to accomplish. There will be other fools; ones from Uzumaki and Senju line are always fools._ **

_… Uzumaki?_

**_Only with the mingling of the Sage's two sons' bloodlines can the Rinnegan occur._ **

_Wait, are you saying this bastard is related to me?_

**_Yes._ **

_Shit. Are all my blood relatives shitty?_

**_Yes, puny boy, they are. They are all ninja._ **

_Shit. Worse, are you saying I could get the same eyes?_

**_Not unless you mingle with Uchiha._ **

_I'm not going to quibble with your word choice right now, but make a note that I've remarked upon it._

**_Noted._ **

Yuji levered himself to his feet. _I don't suppose you know how to get the other bijuu out of the vessel Pain might've stuffed them in?_

**_Unfortunately, no. Still, being confined to the moon will not be so bad after so long being forced to bend to the whims of ninja. It will be like a vacation._ **

_Uhuh._ Yuji let the sarcasm drip from that one. _And leaving them in the vessel for the next creepy bastard with the Sage's eyes with delusions of grandeur to give him a head start on his evil scavenger hunt is a great idea._

Ku-man snarled in his head. **_The dividing of ten to nine is not something I consciously recall. My consciousness was not formed until after it was over. I do not remember how to extract them. Besides, they are not my responsibility! If they were so pathetically weak that they let themselves get caught, it is only right that they pay for it._**

_You just decreed you'd 'release your brethren back into the world', or was that more bad cop meant to scare the guy shitless?_

Kurama snarled softly, but it wasn't just ire from Yuji daring to bait him. Bravado then, he thought as quietly as he knew how, so Kurama wouldn't hear.

_As if you wouldn't enjoy lauding how you rescued them over their heads for the rest of eternity… Oh, dude, I just had a wicked idea._

**_Oh?_ **

_You're going to have to admit to my genius._

**_Never. There is nothing to admit to. Speak of what your sole two neurones produced._ **

Yuji scowled. _You know, I don't think it's fair that you bring out those words from past ages. Most doctors don't even know them anymore._

**_Spit it out._ **

_Yamanaka. We are in Konoha, dude. There is a freaky clan here that can invade people's brains._

**_You have had a successful thought. Congratulations._ **

_Bastard._ Yuji sighed. _I don't think there's any reason for me to try to kidnap one—too much work. I could probably spin it to the Hag so she'd agree to lend us one._

**_I do not like you remaining within ten leagues of Konoha._ **

_Like you couldn't roast them all with a pincer move between your patrol clone and me. Besides, I'm way more diplomatic than you, Mr I-scare-the-shit-out-of-Uchiha-for-kicks._

**_Are you attempting to make a joke?_ **

_I don't roast people just because. Besides, do you honestly want to talk to Tsunade?_

**_Do you?_ **

_Eh, I'd like to see if I'm still capable of politely ticking her off in person, just to ensure our byplay through the journal stays fresh._ Yuji began to stow Boar's effects back in his scrolls. It would not do to make it obvious he was the one offing Root agents.

Instead, he wavered between a few henge. He could go in one of Seiichi's forms, maybe the one he had been in when they had last been together in the Red City. Or he could wear Namikaze Minato's form just to piss off the Konoha-nin. Last, he could wear the only adult male henge that didn't sit even a little bit wrong: Mamoru as he had been many years ago.

He chose the last. There was a stubborn hope that maybe if he stumbled across his mom, this form would trigger any buried memories. A minuscule hope, but one none the less.

_When things calm down, I'm going to a club, one with a real DJ._

**_You went to a couple in Silicon City. Why again?_ **

_For old times' sake._ He scaled a wall and slipped into an empty apartment to shuck off Boar's pants and the chakra sucker seal. His henge fell away and he put on Mamoru's face.

* * *

Mamoru strode confidently through the residual chaos of one of Konoha's main streets. Ahead, he could see a crushed section between him and the administration building beneath the Hokage Monument. The gravity puppet's work, no doubt.

He was attracting only a bit of attention. His calm wasn't interesting enough, though it made him stand out like a sore thumb.

Ninja, on the rare occasion that they weren't completely occupied with shifting rubble or running about like headless chickens, eyed him worriedly and made abortive moves toward him. They could sense something was wrong, but they weren't sure what. He was keeping a thin rind of his chakra over his skin; below, Kurama's youki thrummed. Kurama was very close to the surface, but he was containing himself. The henge was probably the only thing making Mamoru's eyes look human.

He made it halfway down the street to Admin before he was intercepted. Sloppy of them.

A Dragon-masked ANBU agent appeared in a cloud of leaves before him, five acting as his backup. It was an odd number. Konoha favoured teams of four… Dragon too. That was administrative. Blue lines on the mask told Mamoru that this agent was near the top of the hierarchy, if not _the_ top.

"Dragon-san, what can I do for you?"

"Who are you?" growled the agent.

"I bear a message for your Hokage from Kyuubi-sama and His Vessel. You may call me Mamoru." He made sure that his words practically dripped reverence.

"What message?"

"I am afraid that Kyuubi-sama decreed it was only to be given to Hokage-sama in person. To disobey a divine order would be to put my soul in peril." He bowed shortly.

Movement behind him. Kurama shifted closer to the surface, hackles raised.

_Calm down; they're just signalling each other._

**_I know. Your peripheral vision is pathetic though._ **

_You could have deciphered it?_

**_Perhaps._ **

_How goes crushing the paths?_

**_I quartered Naraka. Preta has been cornered somewhat. I'm working out some way of ripping him apart. I wish I had some wire. Not being able to touch him is annoying._ **

_If you made him absorb a ton of your chakra with your will, could you take him over the way you tried to take me over?_

Kurama paused. **_Two thoughts in one day. Late, but better than never. Hmm, yes, one clone managed to subvert him. These metal spikes are definitely the resonance points. The Rinnegan user must keep some abilities to his own body, a seventh path perhaps. The Sage never manifested his abilities this way, if the stories are complete._**

_Can he chain you with those metal spikes?_

**_His resonance is strong,_** Kurama admitted worriedly. **_I've removed them from the corpse. Only four more to go… Three now._**

Mamoru returned to himself when Dragon made a gesture and he sensed two ANBU step forward to grab his arms.

_Now, don't freak out,_ he ordered Kurama when the chakra boiling in him threatened to break the henge. _Let's just take this in stride. I know you can knock them out of the park whenever we're ready._

"Are you going to take me to the Hokage?" he asked aloud.

Dragon-san didn't answer, and Mamoru was zipped to the roof of a building near Admin and patted down thoroughly by another agent before he was zipped to the roof of Admin itself.

Tsunade was sitting in a circle seal, a ridiculously large slug nearby. Chakra was radiating off her in waves. Four ANBU guards stood at the cardinal points of her circle, though they let Dragon pass them without a twitch.

Dragon-san knelt near Tsunade and murmured to her. Her fiery brown eyes snapped open and took him in. She nodded shortly, and Mamoru was dragged slightly closer to her. "You have a message?"

"From Kyuubi-sama, yes." Yuji took delight in how her eyes narrowed at the suffix. "He decrees that the Rinnegan wielder must die, but that there is something the man must undo before he kills him. He demands that a Yamanaka be provided."

"The killer fox demands?" Tsunade barked incredulously. "And just how did this message get to you? Where are you from?"

The north ANBU guard risked a glance and stiffened. "Hokage-sama!"

Yuji froze at the sound of that voice. Seiichi…

Tsunade beckoned Niichan forward, and he knelt to whisper in her ear.

"You are not Rat–67, so you must be the brat himself," she snarled. "Sloppy work."

Yuji let his henge break, watching as his brother stiffened at the sight of his face, the face he had worn when they had been real brothers, aged to match his years. Yuji chuckled. "I wanted to see if anyone would recognize it. Besides, it's not like anyone other than Seiichi-nii and Dad would know it. Jiraiya's dead, and Mom's gone."

"How are you here?" she demanded. "Itachi's team hasn't reported yet."

"Eh, it's not our fault that they can't travel as fast as we can." He took a good look at her expression and frowned. "Don't worry, they're fine. They're on their way back. They've got a present for you from us. I think you'll like it."

"What did you give them?"

He chuckled. "Are you sure you want me to spoil the surprise? Seriously, they're only a day or so behind us, and they're probably at top speed if they've spotted the smoke."

Pursing her lips, Tsunade didn't even pause to consider. "Tell me."

"We ran into Sanbi about to get captured by two Akatsuki guys: Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand. Kurama took them down—drowned Deidara with Sanbi's help—but Sasori's a special case. We boxed him up neatly in a scroll for you to interrogate."

"And Deidara's corpse?"

"Eh… We might have let Sanbi chow down on it?" He laughed at their expressions; it was freaking them out that he was so carefree with two guys holding his arms hostage. "Seriously, do you not know anything about bijuu? They're spiritual entities; they don't really need to eat. No, we packed him up for you too. Dad educated me on what you guys do with corpses here. Also, I note he had a bounty—the old perv gave me a bingo book when we met up. I'd like to lay claim to that since you guys aren't likely to give me access to whatever my blood parents left for me."

Tsunade sighed. "If you really did include his corpse, Konoha will pay you just as they would any other Konoha agent who brings in a bounty. Where do you want the funds?"

"I'll send you account details the usual way." He grinned, letting his unconcern grate upon her.

"How ninja-like, claiming bounties," she snarked, but he just laughed.

"I gotta have some cash to buy my ship with. If Kurama giveth, I am but his humble container to pass along to those who will pay. Besides, you shouldn't be complaining. Ku-man just saved your ass. You guys have no idea what the Rinnegan is capable of. He was just about to flatten your entire town." This was pure fantasy on Yuji's part. He had no idea how powerful a gravity blast this new Rinnegan user was capable of. Kurama had told him that the Sage had made the moon in one of his stories though.

Tsunade didn't look convinced. "The Ame orphan didn't have powers like that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Rinnegan users are stupidly powerful. And that was just a corpse. And this guy was driving six of them at the same time. One guy nearly took down your whole village. You owe us."

"It was your choice to volunteer aid, acting as a Konoha shinobi should."

He narrowed his eyes. "Hag, don't be like that. You really don't want to make this like that. I don't give a shit about your village. Kurama wants this guy dead and split into subatomic particles, but Konoha is not much farther down his shit list." Yuji jerked his chin towards the wall, where the first Kurama clone was now perched on top, a bijuudama cradled in his tails.

The ANBU securing his arms gripped him tighter, as though by restraining him they could prevent Kurama from acting. Kurama's stretchy arms seeped through his skin and battered them both aside, leaving Yuji standing alone.

"I just want a Yamanaka, Hag. We're trying to clean up this Akatsuki mess. You should be dancing for joy that Kurama's stepped in. You have no idea what these guys were working towards, but I'll tell you this: it was catastrophic. There are nine bijuu for a reason. If these guys had finished their work, you would've been facing what the Sage and his brother faced. Give me the Yamanaka to finish cleaning this up. You can pick the Yamanaka's brain afterwards."

"I want the Akatsuki member for further interrogation."

"No. He has to die. I can't allow you to have knowledge of what he was planning. I can't allow it to happen again because that knowledge got into the hands of another nutbar. Be happy that your Yamanaka's going to get to poke around in his head while we do our cleanup."

**_I've secured the Uzumaki. There's another Akatsuki member, a woman, but she ran off when I attacked her. She is biding her time. There is something that worries me though: a dual ill intent nearby. It disperses and reforms, moving. I have never encountered a presence like it before._ **

Yuji frowned. _A scout with Akatsuki?_

**_Possible. There are stories about things that only the Rinnegan can explain._ **

_So once it leaves to report, that means the countdown to more assholes showing up is on. Like Orange Mask if we're really unlucky._

**_Again, probably._ **

_We need Itachi then. Can you send one of your clones to taunt him into speeding up? Can you tell where they are?_

**_Just over the northern border. I do not know if they can travel quickly enough to be of much use._ **

_Shit. Do you want me to ask for another Uchiha?_

Kurama growled. **_I don't trust them. I barely trust Itachi's integrity. The Uchiha here are sour with despair and rage._**

_What about that brother of Itachi's? The one that was on the team with Hinata-san?_

Kurama snorted. **_A child._**

_Dude, he's supposed to be the same age as me and Hinata._

**_Like I said, a child._ **

_I'm almost seventeen, you decrepit bastard._

**_You are compressing the months between you and seventeen quite a bit, young one._ **

_Shut up._ "Also, I ask that Uchiha Sasuke be sent with us. We may need his eyes, and Itachi and Shisui are the most honourable Uchiha we've ever met or heard of."

This of course provoked severe protest in all the Konoha people assembled; Yuji watched his masked brother warily return to his post after simply shrugging in response to the Hokage's piercing look.

"Look," he said over the flurry of whispers Dragon was putting in the Hokage's ear, "you can send an ANBU squad. I don't care. I'd actually prefer to have some of your people around to attempt to take care of the extra Akatsuki-nin Kurama found. He—"

**_She._ **

"Ahem, she is hanging around, hoping to get her partner back from Kurama. You can have her. Apparently, she uses…" he paused.

**_Paper._ **

"Paper jutsu and is nowhere near as dangerous. You can have her. I'll ask Kurama not to slaughter her."

**_You don't need to buff up my image. I did that quite nicely earlier._ **

_Never hurts to make it that much shinier._ "We're more concerned Akatsuki may show up to attempt to rescue the Rinnegan, considering that it's probably the lynchpin of their whole operation."

"Three squads," Tsunade barked.

"And a Yamanaka and Sasuke Uchiha."

"Fine. And I want the kunoichi and any others that arrive."

"Only if they're not that rogue. If they are the rogue Uchiha, that one must die. He is too dangerous to leave alive. His eyes are too powerful."

Tsunade scoffed, bluffing. "Shisui's eyes are powerful enough to contain him."

"Even if they are, and I doubt that since this guy apparently claimed to be Uchiha Madara to Namikaze Minato's face, Shisui isn't here right now. Besides, Itachi swore to destroy him to Kurama. Are you trying to interfere with that promise?"

Up on the wall, the first Kurama clone snarled loudly enough to be heard over the sounds of Konoha staggering back to its feet.

She backed down. "Fine. Three squads, Inoichi, and Uchiha Sasuke. I get all Akatsuki captured except for the Rinnegan and the orange-masked Akatsuki member."

Yuji grinned. "Nice doing business with you, Hokage-sama. Done."

Two runners were summoned and soon returned with a rugged man with a long blond ponytail who was introduced as Yamanaka Inoichi and a pale, almost delicate teen with messy black hair and eyes. The Uchiha fan on his shirt made it obvious who he was. Three ANBU squads assembled. Tsunade quickly explained the mission and whispered some extra instructions into Inoichi's ear as Yuji put fingers in his ears and started humming a sea chanty just to be annoying. The glare he received from the Hokage made his day.

"All set now?" he asked jovially. He got no response except a nod from Inoichi and a bewildered half shrug from Sasuke. "Cool, let's go." _You think I should go for a dramatic exit?_

Ku-man sighed. **_You are a complete ham. Are you sure you would not do better as an actor or a master of ceremonies than a captain?_**

_Come on, it would be awesome._

**_Fine._** Kurama took possession and youki sheeted over his skin, transforming him into another fox as the Hokage's guards lunged to interpose themselves between the beast and her. Kurama barked a laugh and leaped for a rooftop, the ninja assigned to him on his heels.

* * *

Dragon–1 glowered at the departing beast as it passed its counterpart on Konoha's wall. The one with the glowing ball in its tails watched the party pass and remained, glowering over Konoha.

"That … brat!" Tsunade-sama growled, obviously omitting a stream of adjectives. "Of all the highhanded, arrogant little shits!"

Tiger–19 shuffled uncomfortably, only making Dragon–1 more certain of his decision to not allow the agent to go with the squads accompanying the jinchuuriki. There were still strong family ties between them. He couldn't give Tiger–19 the chance to be tempted into activities he'd regret, like passing along information the jinchuuriki did not need to know.

Rat–67's reports had made it clear that the older brother went out of his way for the younger's benefit. Speaking of… He beckoned a runner. "Go retrieve Rat–67 and the best available trackers. Make sure one is a chakra sensor."

Watching the small Kyuubi stalk back and forth on the wall made Dragon–1 wonder just who held the reins of power now inside the jinchuuriki. Could the boy's whims hold any sway over the beast?

Dragon–1 hoped he wouldn't find out that that was a no shortly.

* * *

Yuji wandered back into the atrium of the lobby level of his consciousness and poked Kurama. "What's the Hag doing? Does it look like she's coming after us on the sly?"

The fox's eye cracked open and appraised him. **"No, she seems to be keeping to her circle, healing through the slugs. The Dragon though, he has sent runners out, though whether they're for our benefit or for the village's isn't clear yet. Are you ready to switch back or are you still sore about your brother?"**

Yuji bared his teeth. "You think I'm that wussy?"

Ku-man just snorted.

"Fine, it pissed me off that he didn't even say hi. You happy now? I know he's ANBU. I know he won't sneeze without the Hag's permission. I'm allowed to be ticked off."

**"Prepare the Yamanaka. You'll arrive in a couple minutes."** Kurama released the chakra around Yuji's body, and he came to himself, bounding through the canopy surrounded by Konoha ninja.

How long had he spent avoiding just this situation?

He sighed and glanced to his four o'clock. Uchiha Sasuke looked too… soft. His eyes weren't hard enough. Maybe that was what happened when you were allowed to keep your family. Part of the softness had been surprise at Yuji's form shift apparently; some of the same look his brother had settled into his gaze. With a nod, Yuji turned to inspect Yamanaka Inoichi, who ran at his nine o'clock. So, this was one of the best interrogators in the Konoha Intelligence Devision.

"Do you have assistants among the ANBU with us, Yamanaka-san?" Yuji asked.

The man appraised him for a moment before answering. "There are two or three that could assist me. What is it you need me to find?"

"A few things. First, you need to find out how to summon the vessel of the Juubi, if this idiot really has been using it to seal the bijuu away. You need to find out what this guy was planning. You need to find out what sort of contact he had with an orange-masked man. We'll go from there."

"Do you have any idea of the time span involved?"

Yuji only shrugged. "Most of the bijuu captures have happened within the last seven months according to what Jiraiya told me. I have no idea how long this guy has been in contact with our prime suspect for the attack on Konoha all those years ago. Considering how rare the Rinnegan is, I'm sure Orange Mask snatched him up as soon as he could. Do you need anything to speed things up?"

Inoichi shook his head. "I'm fine on my own unless you are willing to let some of the ANBU assist me. There is a seal that allows others into my technique to assist in going through the information."

**_Tell him I will be going in with him and that it is not negotiable._ **

_Can you multitask well? Unless you can help me find that guy that's watching us, who's going to know when he goes to report?_

**_I am not linear like your simple brain._ **

_You're an ass, and I don't believe you._

Kurama sighed. **_Brat, I must know what he's up to and what he knows, consciously and unconsciously._**

Yuji mulled over this as Yamanaka-san frowned at him. _You think the Sage might be echoing in him?_

**_No, I don't. The Sage would not attempt to harm us this way. Ever. I want to know how he figured this all out. I must know so I can erase the source of his knowledge from the world. The Juubi must never return._ **

"Kurama will be assisting you. He has experience going through my subconscious and should be able to help you with any traps you encounter."

When Yamanaka-san looked ready to growl protests, Yuji scowled at him. "Kurama knows what to look for. He's our expert here. You won't know if you've missed something essential because you won't recognize it as a clue. This is important shit. I can't let your prejudice against the bijuu get in the way, so stuff it."

The old ninja was not intimidated. "You are not my Hokage, and she said nothing about this in the mission parameters."

"Are you really hardheaded enough to not accept expert help just because it's not human? Jiraiya consulted with and was taught by bloody toads. You don't have a leg to stand on here."

"Your expert attacked my village and was responsible for the death of four of my clan members."

"Kurama was under the control of the orange-masked asshole for part of that. And, if you were held captive by Kumo for decades, I'm sure you'd happily chuck a few exploding notes at everyone who came after you on your escape attempt. It just so happened that Kurama was the one escaping, or did you not have high enough clearance to know that he was being held in Uzumaki Kushina and Senju Mito before her?"

Yamanaka-san's mouth worked even as his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Yeah, let's not get into what Konoha does and doesn't tell its people. Kurama is going in with you. Not negotiable. You'll be fine. I'll vouch for your safety with him."

**_As if you can actually stop me!_ **

_I can annoy you for a hell of a long time. Play nice. I cannot do mind reading techniques, so don't break your tool._

"How can I trust you?"

"Good question. I don't really have an answer except that all I really want is to be left alone. I'm happy to leave you alone so long as you don't sink my boat or mess with my family. I'm not into murder. I'm a pathetic coward that can't handle guilt on that scale."

"And yet you're not afraid of Tsunade-sama," interjected Sasuke.

Yuji turned a smirk on him. "Ah, well, I'm just too dumb to be afraid of someone who single-handedly ruined her family fortune and legacy. We're a little too alike, the Hag and I."

**_You are very bad at garnering the trust of your team. However, your skills at offending everyone in a five-kilometre range are impressive._ **

_I live to piss someone off._

**_You're close._ **

_Got it._ "We're here. ANBU, I doubt I need to tell you your jobs, but Kurama's sensing others about in addition to our target's partner. The kunoichi is"—he consulted with Kurama's evil antenna—"about 250 metres that way. The spies he's sensing move around as a unit. I don't know if you can get a chakra sensor to fix on them or sniff them out. We're keeping an eye on them, but pinpointing them is hard. If we can keep them from reporting to the rest of Akatsuki, better for everyone." The ANBU dispersed, leaving three humans in the charred and smoking clearing.

The two Kurama clones had a wasted-looking redhead speared to a tree with a few stout branches. A mechanical apparatus held his lower body and his hands, cracked open by boulders. The atrophied legs within it told Yuji that their Uzumaki was a cripple with limited mobility.

And his eyes were wholly creepy.

"What do you need so Kurama can assist you?" Yuji asked as he pulled out binding, mental suspension, and chakra sucking seals and cautiously began restraining the prisoner with Kurama's assistance.

"It would be easier to show you," Yamanaka-san said stiffly.

One of Kurama's clones flattened his ears and raised his hackles slightly, but Yuji rolled his eyes at the beast and strolled up to the Konoha-nin. "Go ahead and pop it in my brain. I've got some skill with seals."

Yamanaka-san's palm pressed to his forehead, and Yuji studied the image. Spirit and consciousness binding, the main user a carrier for the rest, but done in stone. At least Kurama would now be able to fulfill the physical contact requirement. "Not simple, but doable. I'll have to adapt it a bit, but I should be ready in about half an hour. You should start, get what you can solo before Kurama goes in with you."

Yamanaka-san nodded and went over to touch the seal-enthralled Rinnegan user.

**_I'm going to go see if I can home in on the scouts without sending them running back to their people. ANBU doesn't seem to be having much luck yet. I'll be back before you're finished with that seal._ **

_Have fun._

One of the clones slunk out of the clearing, shrinking to the size and shape of a normal fox as it went, if a normal fox radiated such contained power.

Yuji got out his travel scroll and summoned a bucket of black paint, brushes of a couple different widths, and a large roll of paper. Muttering to himself, he got to work, painting the markers in a pattern as close to the original as possible. He was aware of Sasuke studying him and fidgeting after a few moments of weighing the pros and cons of a couple different changes. "You need something, Uchiha?"

"Why am I here?"

"Insurance. Orange Mask is an Uchiha. Kurama doesn't trust Uchiha in general—they've been bastards to him for a looooong time—but he figures your brother and Shisui are okay, if weird. He allowed me to bring you out here to hold off Orange Mask if you can if he shows up. It would kind of be a problem if Orange Mask got hold of Kurama again. We'd like to avoid that."

Sasuke frowned at the insult to his clan, though he seemed ambivalent about the praise from the fox for his brother. Yuji couldn't blame him. Praise from Kurama was always dual-edged.

"So I'm to stand guard?"

"Sure. I'll be done here soon, and then I'll be just as useless until Kurama finds what he's looking for." Yuji sank back into thought even as his brush moved across the paper and periodically back to the paint can. _Does this look right?_

The remaining Kurama clone wandered over to peer at his design even as he felt him studying the memory of the device in his consciousness. **_As far as I can tell. The changes seem to adapt for the lack of the stone pedestal._**

_Let's hope._ "Yamanaka-san, will this do?" Yuji called as the other Kurama clone that had gone hunting returned, shaking his head.

Once the Konoha-nin roused and went over the design only to shrug and approve of testing it, a Kurama clone went to press his hand to the appropriate ring marker while Yamanaka-san warily did the same with his free hand. The two went still, and the lack of complaint told Yuji things seemed to be working. With a sigh, he was about to settle down to wait only to notice that ANBU was efficient as well as creepily quiet. There was a woman with the Akatsuki robes and blue hair unconscious and bound at the squad's feet. Shaking his head and sneering at her, Yuji settled on the ground near the unoccupied Kurama clone and buried his fingers in the beast's ruff. Ku-man shot him a look with a red eye before sighing and moving from his sitting position to fully lying down at Yuji's side.

**_They got Rokubi a little over two weeks ago._ **

_Rokubi… That was in Water._

The beast nodded. **_Five of us. All because we are trapped in incompetent humans._** His hackles raised, and he growled thunderously. **_The Sage never intended us for this indignity!_**

Yuji hesitated a moment, debating over how likely he was to keep his hand if he proceeded, but muttered "fuck it" and stroked Kurama's head between his flattened ears. "I know, I know. Fuck them all and whatnot," he murmured, ignoring the attention of the nearby ninja. "Any sign of Orange Mask?"

**"Yes. He seems to be the one directing Akatsuki, as I suspected. This Nagato is posing as the leader, and he believes he is for the most part, but the one calling himself Madara is definitely manipulating him. They are sealing the bijuu within the vessel, extracting them from the hosts with a powerful jutsu from the vessel. He sent Nagato and the Konan woman to extract our whereabouts from Konoha. They were searching for your mother and your other family members to use as bait, but Jiraiya did not know where she was, not truly. He suspected Konoha, but your father, Takashi, would not confirm it. Takashi has had little contact with Jiraiya since the mission ended—Nagato extracted only two instances where they met, and only once was that in Konoha. Your brother has also not been much in contact with Jiraiya."**

Yuji scowled. "I'm pretty damn sure my brother knows. They're keeping him away from me for a reason."

Kurama huffed agreement. **"This one, he believes he can use the bijuu as a bomb and destroy a whole country. Peace through terror."** The fox laughed, but bitterly. **"How very despotic of him. He is the very antithesis of the Sage. Chakra as a mass weapon. Such a disappointment."**

Yuji managed a pained smile. "Have the scouts moved?"

**"Yes, many times; creeping closer and then skittering away when I look in their direction. I cannot smell them. I cannot feel the taint of their chakra. ANBU cannot seem to sense them at all. They pass near them, but do not pause. I think, based on Nagato's memories, that this dual person is called Zetsu. They are a plant sort of human, outside my experience. I think their power is a little similar to the Shodaime Hokage's, linked to trees and the earth."**

Yuji frowned. That was new. Kurama had been around for eons. For him to not know about something was unnerving. "Do you think you could capture Zetsu?"

Kurama growled again. **"I tried, though it nearly scared them off. I could not pen them in alone though. With help…"** The beast made a shrugging motion. **"They are getting bolder. They are nearly as close as the woman was, nearly close enough to do more than just try to get a glimpse. They are very quick when they do move."**

Nodding, Yuji got up and approached the ANBU. "Kurama thinks he can corner the scouts with your help. Have you managed to locate them at all?"

The one with a Rat mask with mainly black markings shook his head. "Our sensors can't detect anyone in the vicinity," he whispered.

"Kurama can't either. He's only detecting their presence with his 'evil antenna', which is a sense for malice. They're definitely out there. The only worry is that approaching may send them into flight back to the rest of their group."

"Allowing them to gather intel on this operation cannot be permitted."

"They're not getting very close, but yeah, the misinformation they're picking up is worrying. Akatsuki may come out of this convinced that I work with Konoha willingly, which wouldn't be good for you guys. I'm surprised they haven't come to kill Nagato already."

"Scouts are often not fighters," Rat-san said.

"I guess he can't get anyone here fast enough then."

Kurama suddenly snarled and took off into the trees. **_Zetsu's withdrawing!_**

"Shit!" Yuji pointed at the ANBU. "The scouts are running!"

He didn't need to say anything else. ANBU pelted after Kurama, and Yuji just managed to snag Sasuke before he too disappeared. "No, we need you here. If the worst happens, you need to be right here where you can break me free. We're on a timer now. Your job is to keep Orange Mask from cornering and capturing me and Kurama. He's a rogue and powerful Uchiha, and you're here because Itachi is your brother and we're hoping you're as good as him or better. Prove it." _What progress?_

**_Yamanaka-san has found the way to summon the vessel. I am searching for hints of how to extract them. This being an Uzumaki, chains are likely._ **

_Chains?_

**_The Uzumaki favour chakra chains similar to the ones Hikmat showed you in your early sealing lessons. Kushina was very fond of them for barriers and brute force sealing. It's a clan technique, though this Nagato has no idea he's an Uzumaki, apparently._ **

_Huh._

**_Zetsu's presence is dispersing. I do not think I can corner them. Zetsu is much faster than the puny ninja you sent with me. I am keeping pace, but I do not know if I will continue to._ **

_Shit!_

**_Chains… Definitely chains. We need to latch onto the bijuu chakra and pull it free. The vessel has a strong claim to it, but I am strong. I can be stronger._ **

_One tail then?_

**_No._** Kurama sneered. **_Matatabi, for all of his faults, is a better option than that ballsack._**

Yuji rolled his eyes. _Say when and what I can do to help._

**_Draft open-purpose chain seals. We will need to be able to direct them. Make them able to handle as much chakra as possible._ **

_Got it. On it._ Yuji called forth more paper and got to work, frantically slathering paint markings all over. _What're we gonna do when Orange Mask arrives?_

Kurama didn't question the use of "when" over "if". **_This one is necessary to summon the statue. Rather, his eyes and chakra are, but I doubt you'll let me implant his eyes in you._**

_Fuck no._

**_We must take him, then. Without the Yamanaka to control him, I do not know if we will be able to free all my brethren. It may be better to immolate him entirely._ **

_Take him now, hope to free the bijuu. We can always immolate him later, but we can't free the bijuu once we do._

**_Agreed. You must seal him away, and we must flee with all speed. I almost wish you were capable of your blood father's teleportation jutsu._** Kurama sounded pissed that they had to run, but he didn't question it.

Yuji snorted. _One more thing I wish I had had time to interrogate him about. Whatever. I stash him, you take the reins, and we run like all of your tails are on fire._

**_And hope he cannot find my chakra._ **

_If he could, he'd have cornered us by now._

**_True._ **

_Alright, chain seals are done. Does Yamanaka know how to send the vessel away?_

**_Yes. Dismissal is simple._ **

_Okay, extraction._

**_He is quick, this Yamanaka,_** Kurama said grudgingly. **_Days within seconds. We are months in his past. Nibi will be furious: the two that captured him are ones he would have been duty bound to destroy if he were free to perform his duties. They break the law of death._**

_What are we going to do with Matatabi when we free him?_

**_Do with him? He is on his own. You are not going to collect bijuu like pets!_ **

Yuji laughed, startling Sasuke.

**_I think I have a method that will work. Yamanaka is ready to switch from extraction to possession._ **

_Let's do this then. Do I need to free Nagato's limbs?_

**_No. There are no gestures necessary._ **

"You'll need to undo whatever you've done to suppress his control of his chakra," Inoichi-san said, coming out his trance. With a nod, Yuji scurried over and, with a countdown for Inoichi-san, pulled off the mental suppression and chakra sucker seal, and Inoichi-san immediately took possession.

Yuji carefully arranged his chain seals at his feet as Kurama's clone dispersed, the chakra flooding back into Yuji's system.

**_The scout is lost._** More chakra came to him from the clone that had been pursuing the scout. The only clone left was the one on Konoha's walls. **_I'll leave that one there for now._**

_What're you doing there?_

**_Looking threatening._ **

The ground began to rumble, and trees slowly toppled as a hideous and huge statue emerged from the ground. _Holy fuck, the Juubi is ugly!_

**_I do not think this is his real form, but yes, the vessel is foul looking._ **

Yamanaka-san made the statue move that scroll out of its mouth somehow, and Kurama's chakra began to press against Yuji's skin. **_Give me control._**

_You got it._

Kurama activated six chain seals, which ghosted into existence: dark, virulent orange and much thicker than any Yuji had ever made. They speared into the vessel's open mouth.

_Oh gods, that would trigger any gag reflex. Can the vessel throw up?_

**_If only,_** Kurama said dryly.

_Pity._

**_I feel them. They are all mingled in there. It will be difficult to separate one from the mess into an entity I can attempt to pull out. With all my power and whole, perhaps I could pull more than one, but…_ **

_Work with what we've got. Can we name them, summon them by their name?_

**_It is better than doing nothing._** The chains began to rattle and thrum. _Nibi. Nekomata. Matatabi. Nibi…_ Again and again. **_Yes… They're coagulating._** The chains shifted in deeper, more links misting into reality. **_I have him!_**

_Heave!_

And Kurama wrapped Yuji's hands around the links, chakra arms bleeding out of his skin to assist with the massive chains. Pulling against enormous resistance, he began to back up. The pitch of the chains' call heightened, but it continued, forcing Nibi into coalescence.

Something blue and black and ghostly began to press against the limits of the vessel's open mouth.

_It's coming!_

**_Harder!_ **

It was the grossest thing Yuji had ever witnessed. It was like watching someone throw up along long hairs trailing down their throat in slow motion. Kurama had to swallow against Yuji's gag reflex a number of times, and Sasuke and Yamanaka-san definitely looked a little queasy.

The bedraggled cat oozed out of the vessel's mouth, stretched all out of proportion to fit out the maw. _Oh my god, it's birth out the wrong orifice!_

**_Will you shut up!_** Kurama gave a yank fuelled by his annoyance, and Matatabi's hips squeezed out, his tails following slowly, like a long string of spit.

And that was when someone began to unflush (anti flush? Was there a proper word for this weirdness?) themselves in the clearing. Yuji and Kurama both recognized it immediately.

_SHIT!_ Yuji, assuming control, shouted at Sasuke as he ran. "That's him! Roast him!"

Sasuke obliged, fire roaring onto the spot where Orange Mask was manifesting. Yuji stowed away his chain seals even as he shook Nagato's body and addressed Yamanaka-san. "Trigger the dismissal of the vessel and get out of here!"

The vessel began to sink into the ground immediately, even as ANBU agents converged on Orange Mask, who was walking calmly through Sasuke's flames, scanning the area. Yuji didn't wait to see what happened; he pressed the mental suppression and chakra sucker seals back on Nagato and activated his person storage seal. Nagato disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and Yuji gave Kurama the reins.

Kurama ran.

* * *

Kurama's clone paced Konoha's wall as he and the boy fled, studying the pathetic little village that had caused so much trouble. He _hated_ that he was running from a fight. It gnawed on every bit of pride. To run from a puny human! He snarled incoherently, his claws gouging the stone.

The souls in this village all called out, resonating. Many with ill natures. Many with guilt. Some with something within spitting distance of evil. A couple crossed the line.

How he hated them and their arrogance and their ignorance!

He could kill them all with just this clone. It would be pitifully easy. It would do the world good to remember that there were forces beyond their control still walking it.

The boy's mother was here though. Supposedly. He was no longer certain. He had thought that perhaps he would be able to sense her, but she was no ninja; she had no chakra signature strong enough to detect except perhaps at the closest range—there had not been enough of his father or his uncle's blood in her ancestry. All the strong lines here would hide her from his senses. And she did not hate strongly enough for him to find her with his other sense.

Worse, the Rinnegan wielder, the Uzumaki, had dared to emulate him, hoped to use deterrence as a weapon and warning in the service of peace. That the old stories (ones that had been old when he had first awoken) said that was what the Rabbit Goddess had done did not reflect well upon how he had honoured the Sage over the many, many centuries.

Still, he could not let the sheer arrogance of this village, of all the villages, go unpunished now that he was here. It was not feasible.

What would hurt them the most?

He chuckled at how the woman Hokage the brat boy resented so much watched him nervously from atop her puny tower. The ants milled hither and thither in the streets, swarming over the ruined sections of their village, wailing and crying over those who had moved on to the next life. Fools. As if they would not be joining them in an eye blink. Humans were strange. They feared and longed for their dead. They worshipped them as gods. They gave offerings and made wards to keep them away as ghouls or ghosts. Death made humans very strange, almost as strange as power made them.

The Shodaime Hokage had had much power, too much. It had convinced him that he had authority over Kurama and his brethren, that he had the right to cage them and place them in the hands of other filthy ninja villages perverting the Sage's dreams. He had been too similar to the Sage, and yet so far. It was his fault this had been allowed to happen.

Kurama swallowed the bijuudama he had assembled earlier. Far below, the Hokage and her little masked ones began swarming in alarm, rushing towards his perch.

He blasted the Shodaime of the Hokage Monument into chunks, and the rubble collapsed on top of Admin and the other buildings beneath it.

He watched hundreds of lights flicker and some few die and turned away. The puny slugs would keep those buried alive. He had saved this village from Akatsuki. It was only his right to show that the saving had not been intentional.

He was done with this village for now. If they were wise, they would heed this warning that they were out of line and that his tolerance for them was nonexistent.

The clone dispersed before the puny ninja could reach him.


	21. Chapter 21

Takashi let the throb of the bass dictate the beat of his heart as people moved to it in the dance pit below him. The beer bottle on the round table before him was sweating, but somehow it glistened less than all the skin on display down below, visible in the flashing lights.

He was the fly in the spider's web, and he knew it.

Away on a mission. That's where people thought he was, he was sure.

Hah.

Could he even be paid for this? Drinking on the job? Enjoying himself, if only because he couldn't not enjoy himself?

Of course, people didn't understand how Takashi could grow to love playing the roles, to love the people his role loved, and to be friends with the people his role considered friends.

His roles had always swallowed him until it came time for the curtain to fall, until it came time to step back and see the end goal again.

Mamoru had ingested him for almost thirteen years.

Mamoru's stomach acids had left some pretty telling scars.

As he grasped the wet, cold bottle and took a pull of the bitter, hoppy brew, he couldn't help but flick his eyes around and feel a smidgeon of pride.

The things they all kept learning… Even at their age.

And then an agent in the Horse mask snapped into existence next to him. Struggling not to react in a way that would draw attention to the cloaked and hooded ANBU, he casually set the bottle down.

"Hokage-sama summons you, Rat-san," Horse-san whispered.

Grimacing, Takashi picked up his beer to finish it off and let Horse disappear. When he set it down again, enough ryou to cover his tab and a generous tip besides was beneath it. He ignored how the proprietor noticed him on his way out. When he exited the club and peered west, shading his eyes against the glare of the early evening sun, a chill shot through him.

Smoke was rising above the forest, and plenty more had obviously dispersed into a haze over time.

Konoha had been burning for a while and he hadn't known.

* * *

This unflushing teleportation jutsu of Orange Mask's was a fucking pain in the ass.

It was worse than any horror story about the Yondaime Hokage's Flying Thunder God jutsu Yuji had ever heard.

Much worse, because that needed tags to mark targets according to the tales.

Orange Mask's jutsu was impossible to escape—the asshole simply unflushed right in front of them despite the trees that should have blocked them from his sight, from knowing where they were headed, negating any value of the ANBU and Uchiha Sasuke.

And then he flushed them despite the small, incomplete bijuudama Kurama spat right through the incorporeal bastard as he charged them. Kurama's jaws clamped down on Orange Mask's arm, and they were being sucked into the whirlpool that had its focal point at Orange Mask's strange Sharingan eye.

Kurama was still roaring protests when the vortex spat them out into the dark land of rectangular prisms of various dimensions. He rampaged through the environment, blasting the landscape out of its perfectly mathematical planes.

And Yuji just sat in the lobby and shook, his eyes wide with disbelief.

They had just been caught. By Orange Mask. Who had sent them to some alternate dimension whose only exit was via the Sharingan toilet according to current evidence.

Shock numbed him, and he could only let Kurama express his violent refusal to accept the situation. If he had been in charge of his body, he would have been hyperventilating.

Three squads of ANBU.

An Uchiha.

And this was the result.

_Shit._

With a low, wheezing groan, he pushed Kurama back and fell to his human knees amidst the glowing rubble—the blocks were apparently the only source of illumination on this plane.

He sucked in a deep breath and slowly, very slowly, hissed it out between his clenched teeth.

" _Calm,_ " he said, both mentally and audibly.

Kurama's reply was an incoherent snarl.

" _Calm!_ " Yuji stressed, imposing his will upon both body and consciousness. It wasn't terribly effective—his hands were still shaking—but it shut Kyuubi up for a moment. "Okay, we are royally fucked at first glance. I know shit about teleportation. Given how fucking empty this place is, it's obviously not one of the primary dimensions used to store whatever has been sealed away. It probably has no specifying seal marks in the entire symbol and pattern dictionary accumulated over thousands of years or there would be all sorts of useless shit scattered around here.

"Self summoning yourself to another location is impossible without an anchor according to the minuscule amount I know about instantaneous transportation, which I did not create because I'm such a moral guy, but obviously I should have expected this kind of bullshit from a guy that managed to take you on. However, I freely admit that I was foolish and did not partake in the forbidden art of self summoning anchor creation, which, duh, requires the use of another soul as an anchor for the summon call. Human sacrifice isn't my thing."

He knew he was rambling, but it was a relief. Thinking aloud felt right. Brother Hikmat had always required it when he had been struggling with a problem. Sand tables were not big enough to fully hash everything out in many cases, and paper was only made so big, so Hikmat had made him blabber on, forcing his mind to key in on the words spewing out of his mouth.

"An anchor requires a soul and intelligence, so it requires the binding of an intelligent spirit. Humans are the most common, considering we're everywhere, but other intelligent species, like summons, have been used in the past by arrogant motherfuckers without an ounce of decency… Oh. Ooooh."

**_You've had a third thought for the day._ **

"I know. I'm on a roll." _Glad to have you back. You coherent now? Got all your marbles back?_

**_I am myself again._ **

"Ah, so only halfway there."

**_Do not make me show you how I can take control of just one of your arms to smack you._ **

"There you are. But shush—you're gonna make me lose my thought." Yuji narrowed his eyes and bit his thumb open. It had been years since he had done this and had had the means to do this, but he had to remember. This had to work. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he whispered, pressing his palm to the ground.

It pulled more chakra from him than it ever had back in the day (probably a result of being in a pocket dimension), so much that Kurama had to back him up, but the smoke rose, dispersed, and revealed a toad about the size of a pair of rooftop cisterns. The toad was orange with dark blue markings, and something about it (he?) struck Yuji as slightly immature despite its ridiculous size.

"Who're you?" the toad demanded.

Yuji's mouth opened, and he hesitated for a moment before cursing softly and pulling up his shirt to drag a chakra-infused finger through the mark of his body modification seal, deactivating it. He gritted his teeth for a moment as his skin tone changed before the toad's wide eyes and said, "Uzumaki Naruto at your service. You might recognize me as the son of Namikaze Minato, who also had a contract with your folk. I am Jiraiya's last apprentice."

"You've got the yellow mop and the pool eyes, so, yeah, I guess I see the resemblance. Gamakichi." The toad huffed. "Not so much at your service, but whatever. Why'd you call? Where the hell are we?"

"You could say we're nowhere, Gamakichi-san. We're somewhere that, as far as I can tell from the last few minutes, can only be accessed by one bitchy Uchiha. He's stuffed me in here against my will, and I would very much like to leave. Could you have me reverse summoned out of here? I have news about Jiraiya's death to report to the toad who told the Hokage."

"That would be Kashira. Sure, I can get you to the Mountain."

Yuji nodded. "Thanks. Much appreciated. I'll return you quick." He released the summoning, and Gamakichi disappeared in as much smoke as he had brought in with him.

And then something else flushed into existence nearby.

* * *

Dragon–1 was used to fury. It was nothing new. He had been ANBU for decades. He expected to be betrayed, abandoned, and for plans to fail. He was used to failure.

Worse, he was used to failing on home ground.

He had failed Sarutobi-sama twice, after all. First, with Suna's poisoning. Second, with that _Serpent_ 's attack on Konoha.

That his third failure was Kyuubi was oddly fitting.

He had always expected the fox to bring ruin. He just hadn't expected to get off so leniently.

That had been odd, he mused as rage made his fingers twitch even as he barked out orders to get Earth users to handling the Shodaime's rubble and figuring out how the civilians hiding in the passages in the Monument had fared. All those crushed buildings had to be excavated as well. He could only hope that the Academy had truly been emptied in time, since several large boulders had made holes in the roof he could see from his perch. Not that Admin was unscathed either, but the ANBU here had managed to create various barriers to save them from the worst of it.

Tsunade was grinding her teeth, but she was focusing upon working with her slug summon, keeping those she could alive at the expense of vast amounts of chakra. Every so often, her seething would manifest in a growled out swear and a fist pounding carefully lightly against the roof.

Her careful control was vaguely terrifying given how well he knew her.

Control… Yes, Kyuubi had been controlled in his attack. Just the Monument. Definitely a message. If Dragon–1 recalled correctly, Kyuubi had aimed for the Monument during that long ago attack as well. The Yondaime had sent the bijuudama elsewhere though.

And that ball had been so much larger than this one.

Had the boy tempered Kyuubi somehow? Had the boy triggered this? Dragon–1 could see it going either way given what little contact he'd had with the boy over the years. His words today had been bitter and the sentiment about not caring about Konoha had been very clear. It could have been too pointed, a jab, but it could have been his honest feelings as well. Difficult to say. But not caring was very different from wanting to attack.

Attack was clearly Kyuubi's normal way of doing things. History showed that. But boy and demon were too closely tied in his mind. Did it matter if only one was the instigator?

In the end, the attack clearly made them foe. Untrustworthy.

Worse, it was public. There was no way they would be able to hide Kyuubi's second betrayal of the village he was supposed to belong to.

Konoha couldn't afford to look weak. It had sued for peace too many times, been responsible through Danzou and others for too many things. They weren't trusted by anyone. Fire was too ripe a target.

That so many other bijuu had been taken out of the game made this less of a disaster, but it was still bad. Very bad.

He knelt next to his Hokage. "My lady, we will need to control the rumours. Misdirection is a must."

She pressed her lips together, light brown eyes narrowed. "Not enough people saw him face down Akatsuki, huh?"

"We can spread that tale, twist this attack into being part of his defence."

She nodded. "Do what you have to."

At that moment, a Tiger appeared in a cloud of smoke onto the roof at a polite distance from them. He quickly dropped into a crouch, his movements jerky with what Dragon–1 knew was panic. It didn't help that this Tiger was from one of the squads that had gone with the boy.

"My leader ordered me to escape to report just in case. The boy has been taken by the one with the orange mask. Sucked up in a vortex. No trace of where the exit point might be. Agents are attempting to keep Inoichi-san from being taken or killed as well with decoys. He managed to extract information, and the orange-masked man must recognize him for what he is. His teleportation abilities are potentially more advanced than the Yondaime Hokage's, and we cannot touch him—objects pass right through him. Worse, he seems to possess Mokuton abilities: he created and manipulated branches. He definitely has a Sharingan, though it is odd looking."

_Mangekyou._ Dragon–1 grimaced. This was much worse than he had feared.

"Uchiha Sasuke noted it. He reports that the form is identical to the one Kakashi's takes on when performing his Kamui technique."

Icy shock punched Dragon–1 in the gut. _Kami-sama!_

He had a very bad feeling about this. He _prayed_ what he thought he knew about Mangekyou Sharingan was wrong.

_Please let my guess be wrong._

And then Rat–67 showed up. Pity surged briefly in his gut. He had been going to assign the man to hunt the boy down when he inevitably disappeared. Now he might have to tell him the mission had changed to recovering his son before he was killed.

He chose to avoid the situation for the moment. He signed that the summons would be delayed and that Rat–67 was to make himself useful elsewhere. Once the man disappeared, Dragon–1 relaxed only slightly.

Priorities. Inoichi had to be protected.

"What happened with the Akatsuki Pain?"

Tiger stiffened. "They managed to extract information from him, summoned a very large, mobile statue, and Kyuubi pulled Nibi from it. The attacker appeared shortly afterwards. The jinchuuriki sealed away Pain and fled as the fox and was taken. Nibi ignored us all and fled, but I think it has been taken as well."

* * *

Yuji cursed when he recognized the flaming cat. "We just set you free and you're already captured again!" he shouted at the creepy beast.

The two-tone eyes blinked at him in surprise as a voice echoed in the lobby. **_Kurama? Is that brat yours still? I thought you would have killed him by now._**

**_I know for a fact you were stuck in that kunoichi for far longer than I've been in this boy._ **

**_Yes, but your seal is unlocked._ **

**_As was yours when we met you in the Red City._ ** **Your chakra had been claimed!** **_Do not speak to me of failure._ **

Matatabi showed off his fangs.

And then the pocket dimension disappeared in a burst of smoke. As it cleared and Yuji coughed, he had to squint in the bright light of day after the darkness of the other plane. It was also very humid here, wherever the "here" the toads had called him to was.

"Welcome to Mount Myouboku!" wheezed a small reddish toad with his hands pressed together, visibly drained. Nearby, Gamakichi grunted welcome as well.

_Shit, Matatabi is stuck there!_ Yuji groaned and dropped his head into his hands. It was a small victory that they had escaped with Nagato: at least the vessel couldn't be used to seal the cat away again. Yuji had hoped having the demon cat running around in the world would make things more interesting, at the very least.

* * *

Something very strange was happening.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but there was no mistaking it. Their opponent had _flinched_ when his shuriken had passed through the man's chest. There was a smoking hole in the enemy's clothes exactly where the shuriken slipped through him. The skin behind it was raw and blistered.

The opponent Uchiha (it was unnerving to face one of his kin as an enemy) acted pretty nonplussed, touching the wound with his head cocked.

Sasuke realized immediately that something else had to be attacking him whenever he dematerialized because he stopped doing it. More branches attacked. More flames. More _distance_.

This was vital.

As the last Inoichi was revealed to be a clone wearing a henge, the Akatsuki Uchiha flushed himself away angrily.

Sasuke swayed, drained by so many ineffectual and powerful Katon attacks, and tried to make sense of everything he had seen. He didn't know enough about Mangekyou Sharingan to be sure—only Shisui currently had those eyes, and Kakashi, if his bequeathed Sharingan counted—but there was too much evidence of the connection to discard.

His teacher had never spoken of Uchiha Obito, and his clan rarely mentioned his heroics because of the shame of giving his eye to someone outside the clan, but that his other eye had survived being crushed by boulders and was in the head of someone with Akatsuki was definitely going to be one of the rare things that made his sensei truly angry.

Sasuke would bet on it.

* * *

Yuji considered going back for Matatabi for all of one second before dismissing it as impossible for the same reasons escaping the pocket dimension without the assistance of the toads would have been impossible. Matatabi was not bound to him by a summoning contract, so there was no way for the ghost cat to call him back there that he knew of. He had no intention of showing his hand and getting Orange Mask to suck him up again just to rescue the cat.

Nibi, unfortunately, was lost to Orange Mask.

Damn but that was annoying, especially on the heels of their victory in getting him loose.

Worse, if the dimension hadn't been so much under Orange Mask's control and thus required his immediate departure, it would have been the perfect place to unleash the contents of the Shinigami's stomach: minimal impact of vengeful spirits upon the inhabitants (none), minimal chance of infesting the rest of the world with something terrible, and, best of all, apparently only Orange Mask would have been confronted by whatever horrors were let loose (unless some other poor sot got flushed).

On the heels of that thought came a brief flicker of worry for the ANBU, the Yamanaka, and the little Uchiha (it didn't matter that they were the same age: the Uchiha was _young_ in some innocent way that Yuji knew he was not). It felt odd to have positive worry for ANBU, but these weren't Root agents.

The next thing to consider was how he was going to get away: he had broken his initial contract with the toads for a very good reason. These toads were loose allies of Konoha. They had apparently been in contact with Konoha after Jiraiya's death, which could mean a couple things: one, that there was another summoner in Konoha, or two, that the toads corresponded with Konoha via some other method.

Yuji had this vague feeling that Konoha wasn't too pleased with him and that avoidance was a good idea. He wasn't quite sure where it was coming from—though, sure, he had been less than polite to Tsunade and he had been avoiding Konoha forever.

This feeling was a heavier cloud in his psyche. There was _guilt_. Much more nebulous guilt than his usual amount associated with killing Root agents to protect himself.

Where was it coming from? What had he done?

"You said you had information for Kashira?" asked Gamakichi, narrowing his bulbous eyes at him.

Yuji nodded sharply. "There's been some progress in the last couple hours. He needs to hear this."

The young toad nodded and jerked his head in a "follow me" way before hopping off down a narrow lane with sharp rocky walls to frame it. They passed various stark mountain formations, lush vegetation, and murky pools that were probably the reason Yuji was quickly becoming sticky in the heat. This was a sharp change from the North Sea climate, and Konoha hadn't been humid enough to make this transition smooth. They came to a humble hut, where Gamakichi croaked at the door. "Kashira, Uzumaki Naruto is here to see you."

The creaky bickering that had been taking place indoors cut off, and there were a couple slaps of flesh on stone before the door was pulled open. An olive green toad with bushy white eyebrows raised them at his visitors. "Uzumaki Naruto? Jiraiya-chan's godson?"

Yuji grimaced slightly and bowed. "Yes, sir. I was hoping to speak with you. I have just escaped from Akatsuki with the help of Gamakichi."

"Akatsuki? You have had a busy day. You're just in time for lunch. Come, join us for a meal. Ma! Do we have enough for one more?"

"Who?"

"Lunch really isn't necessary—" Yuji tried to interject.

"Jiraiya-chan's godson."

"Ah! Bring him in!" called "Ma".

"Really, thanks, but I really shouldn't eat—" Kashira shot Yuji a look, and he stopped with a sigh. Yuji thanked Gamakichi before slipping inside, letting the old toad send off his escort. He found another small toad with a vibrant purple fringe on her head, rather like a mop of curls. She ushered him impatiently over to the table and settled him on a cushion, fluttering and scolding him for never having taken the time to meet them before and for being the one to cause Jiraiya-chan so much trouble. "He always believed in you though," she grumbled as Kashira took his seat at the table.

Yuji grimaced. It was awkward to not have real names to address these toads by. He could not call her "Ma". It was just too weird. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. You can call me Naruto, but I prefer Yuji."

"Yuji…" Kashira frowned. "Jiraiya-chan never mentioned that name."

"It was the name I was known by when I was living in Kirigishi Village. The old perv never liked it. He felt using it was disloyal to my blood parents."

"Ah, I see. I am Fukasaku and this is Shima. We taught Jiraiya-chan the ways of the Sage. We were with him at the end."

Yuji took a deep breath, hoping it would somehow loosen the knot binding his chest. "I just heard he died a few hours ago. I didn't have time to ask questions, but I heard that he got his soul pulled out of him by Nagato's corpse puppets."

Shima and Fukasaku traded sorrowful looks. "Nagato is Pain?"

"The guy behind the six, yeah. He's the one with the Rinnegan."

"Jiraiya-chan was trying to discover the truth of Akatsuki. He was familiar with the Rinnegan. One of his students from just after the Second Ninja War, a Rain orphan, had it, he told me."

**_A student… Boy, that old toad prophecy…_ **

_Oh yeah… This complicates things._

"You look troubled," said Fukasaku.

"The old perv asked me to fulfill a prophecy in Minato's place, the one about the fate of the ninja world. He said it mentioned a student of Jiraiya's. If he knew Nagato was still around and had the Rinnegan, why on earth did he think that the actor in the prophecy was me?"

"Jiraiya-chan wasn't certain that his old students were around anymore. Another of the three was definitely killed years ago. Jiraiya-chan wasn't sure the other two had survived the fallout in Rain after Hanzou's fall and the closing of the borders."

"Nagato attacked Konoha today, hoping to draw me in," Yuji explained. "He tore through the streets, trying to find my family, the people that raised me undercover in the south. In particular, they were looking for my mother. Jiraiya didn't know exactly where she was—I'm not sure why, but I'm grateful—so there was a lot of collateral damage."

The old couple was appropriately aghast at his blunt revelation. "We should go help them!" Shima cried.

Yuji shook his head and explained what he and Kurama had done.

"You _freed_ Nibi?" Shima looked apoplectic.

He frowned at her. "Of course. Matatabi works with the Shinigami. Apparently, he was captured by two creeps who—if he had been free—he would have been responsible for eliminating because they're basically zombies. Of course, that didn't stop the damn cat from getting caught minutes later."

"Caught?"

And so Yuji rounded off his tale by explaining about Orange Mask and getting flushed. By the time everything had been laid out, Fukasaku and Shima were silent.

"So, you have Nagato and his Rinnegan sealed away?"

Yuji nodded.

"Why come to us, Yuji-chan?"

Yuji looked the old toad square in the eye and quirked up one corner of his mouth. "Not entirely sure. I just wanted someone to know what went down from our perspective. I can't go back to Konoha. Orange Mask will get us if we do. Sure, we can escape the flushing with your help, but he'll get wise to that pretty quick. I don't want to know what he'll do to us instead."

Fukasaku nodded and considered as a subdued Shima began setting out bowls full of bugs and worms. "Please, eat," she urged, setting a pair of chopsticks before him.

Yuji hid a grimace. This wouldn't be the first time he had eaten bugs, but worms were a new thing. That they were all still wriggling in their various sauces was another level of gross. "Ma'am, I apologize, but you realize I am human, yes?"

She frowned at him. "Yes, boy, I'm not blind!"

"I'm sorry, but my diet is quite different from yours. I'm going to be cutting open my gut shortly if I can find a safe place, and I'd rather the worms not make a break for it. I thank you for your hospitality, but I must refrain from taking part." He was not eating worms. Not unless he got far more desperate, hang guest protocol!

"You don't like my cooking?" she growled.

"I'm sure the sauces are wonderful, but I need my food to be slightly more dead. My thanks for offering though."

She huffed, obviously offended, but he considered it a victory that she took his bowl away.

Fukasaku was watching with a frown that had a twinkle to it. If the toad was old enough to have eyebrows like those, Yuji figured he knew well enough what humans did eat and these two were simply seeing what he would do.

"Cutting open your gut?"

"Not seppuku, I promise. Another plan. Part of a particular jutsu I'd rather not explain. Kurama will patch me up when we're done."

The toad narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Are you certain you don't want our assistance with this, Yuji-chan? In my centuries, I have seen many strange rituals and jutsu."

Centuries, plural. Yuji considered carefully.

**_No. No more toad involvement._ **

_Backup in case you're being overconfident would be nice._

**_I'm not going to argue with you further. No toads. I will heal you. Kushina will be our witness._ **

_Fine._

**_We should leave soon. They will send toads to Konoha shortly. It is better that we not be here when they tell them we escaped._ **

_True._ "Fukasaku-sama, can I ask where we are on the continent? I must depart soon and would rather head towards the Treatise Sea."

"The eastern sea? Hmm, it is a much farther journey than to the southern seas, but you have a ninja's speed, I suppose. Weeks of travel, perhaps. It would be faster to return you to Konoha and to depart from there. Are you sure you do not wish to assure yourself of your family's safety?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure where my mother is and I don't want to talk to my brother or father right now. My brother was fine the last time I saw him, and my father was supposed to be out of the village. I'd really like to leave."

"Jiraiya-chan asked us to watch over you, you know. In his place."

Yuji narrowed his eyes. "Really? I wouldn't have thought he would have had time to ask that."

"He knew what danger we were going into, you ungrateful boy," hissed Shima. "He asked us as we began to confront Pain. Jiraiya-chan suspected he wouldn't survive."

"We never agreed on anything about who I was, really," Yuji said carefully. "I respected him for his ideas about the ninja world's current trends though. He was my fool sensei for a while. We wanted to end the international tensions, to erase the need for the villages to be armed. We wanted openness about how the jutsu could benefit everyone, not just ninja." Yuji had nearly forgotten that, dredging these positive things out from beneath the sea of his resentment with some difficulty. "He fed me information over the last year. I didn't know until recently. I'm sorry he's gone. He didn't deserve what he got."

Shima did not look appeased in the slightest.

Yuji wasn't sure he cared.

Her husband sighed. "I would feel better if I knew that you were not going to attempt to void your contract with us the moment you have a chance."

Yuji smirked. "That would require me knowing where that contract scroll is. The old perv was the one who carried it last time I pulled that stunt."

Fukasaku somehow managed to look down his stubby face at him (since his nose wasn't really separated from his mouth). "You have opened your seal to release Kyuubi within your body, as Jiraiya always hoped for you, but you did not take the chakra as he wished. You and Kyuubi mingle now, your souls blending within your vessel. I am no longer certain what your limits are. If you do break the contract, please release Gerotora so he may return to us."

"How can the key be erased from his scroll? I would not put that power back in the hands of anyone else again."

"Gerotora can instruct you. The scroll is his special skill."

Yuji nodded sharply. "Got it. I promise to send him back to you once he's no longer a danger to us. I'd release him now, but I've really got to get going and I might yet get flushed again. Thank you for hearing me out."

"We will be telling Konoha that you escaped safely."

"I know. That's why I'm heading out. Will you promise not to reverse summon me unless I ask for it first?"

Fukasaku eyed him for a long moment. "That is a very disrespectful promise to ask of us. Summoning always works both ways when you sign a contract with us. I deny your request."

**_We cannot afford to wait to break it. Konoha will be coming after us right away._ **

_Even with all they have to worry about on their home soil? And if Orange Mask does nab us again, we won't have an out._

**_We can make an out. And Konoha will not be busy enough to ignore that we have Nagato._ **

Something about Kurama's tone made Yuji's eyes widen. _What the fuck did you do? You did something. I can tell. You don't sound quite smug enough, but you've lost that "blah, blah, ants, pitiful" tone of yours._

**_I do not answer to you._ **

_Like fuck you don't! We're sharing my fucking body! What did you do that would piss Konoha off enough that they'd come after us right this minute?_

**_I did not cause any real damage. Not nearly as much as they deserve._ **

_I don't give a fuck! What did you do?_

**_I destroyed their statue of the Shodaime._ **

Yuji blinked. _You vandalized some artwork?_ He had expected something so much worse. Sure, the Shodaime's bust was carved into a mountain face, but this was _Kurama_ he was considering here. He had expected the fox to have levelled a quarter of the village at the very least.

**_Some ants might have been crushed._ **

He grimaced. Okay, now he knew where that guilty feeling had come from. More deaths on his conscience. _Great. Just great. Did you even consider what a pain in the ass this is going to be? Sure, we've defied Konoha, but never attacked it, you moron!_ There was no point in asking if Kurama had considered the lives that had been lost. That would be so out of character for him that Yuji would have suspected mind control.

**_It needed to be done._ **

Yuji shut his eyes and drew in a pained breath. So much revenge was going to be hot on his trail, but escaping would do no good until the toads couldn't nab him any time Konoha asked. "How do I bring Gerotora forth?"

Fukasaku showed him the proper seals while Shima muttered disapprovingly in the background. Once Gerotora clambered out Yuji's throat, stamping all over his gag reflex in the process, he dry heaved a few times before he regained his composure, being sure _not_ to look at the creature that had just exited his mouth.

The scroll toad looked miffed when the situation was explained to him. "You want me to erase the last work of the Yondaime Hokage?"

Yuji grimaced in the face of his outrage. "Terrible, I know, but I'm his legacy"—it was so weird to be saying that without a load of undirected fury roiling in his gut… Where had his anger gone?—"and I need it gone for my safety. Selfish, but it was made for me."

"It was made for Konoha, boy!"

"It was done to me. I am the subject of that seal. If I want it gone, it will be gone." He narrowed his eyes at the belligerent amphibian and let Kurama make them red and slitted.

"It's a mistake."

"I don't care. Do it. The seal is already unlocked. The key is a weakness I can't allow."

"It's for your benefit! So you can lock up that demon again! You were already supposed to have done that!"

Yuji stepped right in front of Gerotora and let Kurama's aura roil around his body. "Erase it."

None of the toads looked impressed now, but Gerotora unfurled his torso scroll and ran through a long string of handseals. The writing faded as he neared the end.

Yuji nodded his thanks. "Good job. Sorry you don't agree with the necessity. I'll try to prove that you did the right thing." He turned to Fukasaku. "The contract scroll?"

Grimacing, Fukasaku hopped out of the room. Yuji ignored Shima's glare and studied their decor. Simple and plain. These toads weren't ones for much in the way of possessions.

When Fukasaku unfurled the contract scroll on the floor, Yuji felt a pang at the sight of his renewed signature and handprint, so much bigger than the ashen one he had made when Jiraiya had first had him sign the contract right after his family had first been broken. _Ku-man?_

**_Done._** The dark brown of dried blood darkened to charcoal.

The ghost of two signatures now occupied the slot.

"Thanks, and, again, I'm sorry. I'll see myself out."

Fukasaku followed him to the door. "Yuji-chan, that's twice you've broken with us. Maybe someday, when you have settled yourself and understand just who you are, you will come to us again. Three is a fortuitous number."

Yuji quirked a half smile. "Seems like a crappy deal for you folks. I've only ever seriously summoned one toad in years."

"It is about partnership, Yuji-chan. You are all alone in the world by choice, but everyone needs connections, people that can be trusted, a home to return to. For Jiraiya-chan's sake, and for yours, I offer that again when you are ready. We will be waiting and watching to see you hold to that promise to make us proud."

He blinked at the toad, his eyes suddenly burning with tears. Internally flailing with horror, he felt his face crumple around a wrenching sob.

Fukasaku patted his knee as he raised a hand to the wreck of his expression and the wetness heading for his cheeks. "What is your mother's name, boy?"

"Mae. She was called Hiromi, but that was like my dad's name, Mamoru—just a mask. My dad is Shimura Takashi; I think he's the one keeping her hidden."

"If we hear news of her whereabouts, we will leave it at Fire's main temple."

Yuji fell to his knees before the small old toad and pressed his forehead to the dirt. "Thank you," he whispered.

Fukasaku patted his head with a webbed hand. "Be well, Yuji. Find your peace and find peace for all the ninja world."

Yuji nodded and let Kurama take over with a surge of chakra.

* * *

Rat–67 absorbed every word the old toad said as he stood with his team before his Hokage's desk under her watchful eyes, relief flowing into him even as dread for the coming assignment cast ripples through it. Yuji had escaped. Yuji was mostly alright, if having the fox unbound within him was alright. The boy was cutting ties that threatened his flight, just like he had taught him. That it might leave him no escape from the biggest threat was worrying though.

Did Yuji weigh Konoha as a bigger threat than the holder of Uchiha Obito's eye?

Or, hopefully, did he have some new way of escaping the pocket dimension?

"You will go to Mount Myouboku with Fukasaku-sama and begin the hunt from there," Tsunade-sama ordered, slapping her palm on her desk for emphasis. "You will restrain him and bring him back for judgement. Fukasaku says the key to the seal can be retrieved easily and used to lock Kyuubi back inside Naruto. Get going."

* * *

The toad mountain turned out to be in the southwestern corner of Earth Country, near the Land of Birds' border. At least, that was what Yuji was guessing, because they came across the familiar mountains that fed Lake Eisa in Wind Country after Kurama zipped them across the scrubby plains that comprised western Wind. It made sense why that area was the home of so many nomadic tribes. Horses, camels, and various bovines were herded by the locals there, living off the meagre offerings of the land. Kurama eventually parked them on a likely looking mountain, a nice lonely spot on a flattish crown of a ridge, hours before dawn on the second day.

Ku-man melted back into his skin, leaving him human again. Yuji was starving and weary, but best to do this on an empty stomach. They could sneak into Silicon City later for some food. He still had some cash from his wages on the _Yellowfin_. They would have to find a way to safely feed and water Nagato as well really soon. If they wanted the rest of the bijuu back, they needed to keep the emaciated man alive.

**_Ready?_ **

_I need to create wards and binding circles. I really don't want to let something out only for it to run off and flatten Circuit City._

**_True. That place is not as murky as most._ **

_Hope? Purpose? Even the poorer parts of the city are kept up well because of taxes._

**_They do not hate very strongly. There is greed, but that is not evil. Selfishness is not evil in itself. Life must be selfish to continue on the individual level. The species must be selfless to perpetuate itself._ **

_… That was pretty deep, man. I wouldn't think you'd think about the species level, given you're a unique entity._

**_I have had a long time to come to these conclusions. And while I am alone, I was made in the image of a species. I have limited insight into its characteristics._ **

_If you say so. I've never seen a fox with hands instead of paws._

**_Get to work, brat._ **

_Aye aye, asshole vandal. What did statues ever do to you?_

**_It was made in the image of that fool Hashirama. You would not have liked him. He was difficult to grasp: hopeful one moment and depressed and morose the next. Mito was in turns amused and annoyed by his rapid mood swings. She was the steadying hand behind his rule of Konoha. So powerful, and yet so small-minded—he was a disappointment._ **

Yuji got his powdered chalk supplies out and began smearing it onto the ground in the correct seal patterns. _Why a disappointment? What did you expect of him?_

**_I know you have heard of reincarnation._ **

_Yeah. You saying he was someone before?_

**_There are only so many souls to spark within life. Some go through more rounds than others, coming back in different forms in attempts to make good on mistakes made in previous lives. I have always waited for the Sage to return, though I think he may have found another path to travel the river of time. His sons, so much less than their sire, have come again and again._ **

_How do you recognize them?_

**_There are things bijuu see that normal life forms cannot. It is part of our nature. I have lost my ability currently, since I am severed from my Yin chakra, but back then, I had it and I could see. The Uchiha are a very direct and old bloodline. They share the eyes of the Sage's older son. The Senju share the strength of the younger son, who failed his father more than even the older son, who was passed over to inherit the Sage's will. Senju's forefather failed utterly, making war with his older brother when he would not bow to the younger's leadership. Pride. Greed. Shortsightedness. Uchiha and Senju are both guilty of them all._ **

**_Hashirama and Madara…_ **

_Oh shit, don't tell me… But they weren't brothers!_

**_They were of the right bloodlines and repeated the mistakes of their old incarnations, but it was almost worse. The ninja were what arose from the warring of the Sage's sons. The clans rose as the ninja split into family groups, specializing in different jutsu as different powers began to manifest among offshoot bloodlines. That Hashirama reunited clans was a step forward, but the direction was wrong: they were still focused on battle when chakra is for peace, for understanding, for ending wars through compassion._ **

**_That mark doesn't look right._ **

_I know._ Yuji scrubbed the dirt until the chalk had blended into the soil and started again on the modifier. _Keep going?_

**_What more is there to say? Madara sought domination and to destroy Hashirama with almost fanatical joy. Hashirama sought to build and defend his village to the point where he intended to slay Madara when they had once been as close as blood brothers. Hashirama acquired me from Madara's control, and Mito locked me away._ **

_Will the brothers come again?_

**_They will never escape this world until they right their wrongs._ **

_You'd think they'd have figured it out by now._

**_No memory is left when the soul is born again except in very rare circumstances. You must not be allowed unfair advantage. The point is to want to change to the depth of the soul, to rise above old sins. Experience cannot be the guide. Rebirth is not about carrot and stick, as humans like to put it. There is no reward save moving on to the next world and no punishment except being permitted to enter this world again, all unknowing. Or so Matatabi told me once. The world's circles aren't in my scope._ **

**_Speaking of circles, are you done yet?_ **

"Impatient much? Look, this is the Shinigami we're dealing with. I really think being thorough is a much better idea than going into this half-assedly. I've got enough guilt for one lifetime. Let me do this right and be quiet for a bit unless you spot a mistake." He went into a fugue state where only the chalky smears and the flow of chakra and intent mattered. He was by no means a master, but he understood enough to be a journeyman in the craft, at least in some areas. His study of wards had been mostly from the angle of how to break them open, but the understanding of their formation was the same, and his knowledge of certain structures' weaknesses was more in-depth than that of those who simply crafted them.

He circled his layered creation a couple times after he finished, staring at the patterns, markings, and positions. Not his best work, considering the roughness of his medium and canvas, but not bad. The circles were strong.

He crossed them and settled in the centre. Summoning the mask, he began to form a large amount of chakra. He couldn't use Ku-man's for this. He didn't want to create an opening, just in case Yin Kurama was less than happy about what was happening and tried to escape. He wondered briefly if that would really be a bad thing—that Kurama would be free—but he dismissed the idea. Kurama needed to be whole, and Yuji couldn't let Kurama be whole with him not being part of that equation if he wanted to live.

"Okay, let's do this." He pressed his palm to the activator mark, pushing in chakra, and his wards flared to life, radiant as beacon fires to those who could sense the energy. That was the problem with really strong wards: they weren't subtle.

Clenching his teeth, Yuji wandered the halls of the lobby, calling out for the closed up passage to where Kushina lay dormant. It had just started opening up when Kurama bellowed.

**"Stop! That Zetsu presence is approaching!"**

"What? Seriously?"

**"They must be a sensor, a good trait in spies. They must know your chakra signature now. Break down the wards! They must be sensing them. We need to run!"**

Yuji snapped out of his mindscape, sent the mask away, and pulled the chakra back from the wards. Kurama burst forth from his skin and charred them before pushing the fox form on him and taking him racing south again.

"If they've got my signature, they can find us anywhere," Yuji wailed in the lobby, pacing. "How far away are they? What the hell is their range?"

**"I detected their ill intent near Wind Temple soon after the wards came up. They must have thought we would return there eventually."**

"That's hours away! Crap! We're definitely going to need to get off the continent, never mind out of the area!"

**"That will do us no good if they can follow our progress. You will need to mask our chakra again."**

"When you get us to the outskirts of Silicon, I'll paint us in the chakra of the dead again." He could only morbidly hope he had collected enough to last long enough to find some corner of the earth to hide in until he figured out what the hell he was going to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone who has not been living under a rock probably knows that _Naruto_ is officially over. I read the last two chapters with my cousin, and there was much in the way of swearing and screeching between us (in text messages, for which my neighbours are no doubt grateful for, because if we had been in the same room, we would have been very loud). Some spoilers below for those who haven't read 699 and 700 yet.
> 
> What can I say about the final chapters?
> 
> Well, to be a fanfiction writer who focuses on AU requires a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the way the original story went, because if we were happy, we wouldn't have the itch to change anything. It may be latent dissatisfaction with some, those who simply want to experiment with different circumstances, but for me it is not. I admit that the reason I write is because some of the plot holes in canon really piss me off.
> 
> Pairings were settled (or not settled for many shippers, but I'm not much of a shipper, which is why I haven't written any romance fics so far). The inevitable rise to Hokage was achieved. Naruto got a really bad haircut (a terrible, awful haircut!). And we were all left with a huge time gap.
> 
> The last is the most disturbing and tantalizing.
> 
> There is a movie coming out to fill that gigantic gap, but, considering how the movies often piss me off even more than the manga, I don't know if it will settle anything for me.
> 
> Ah well. End of spoilers.
> 
> I admit that I am participating in NaNoWriMo, which is part of the reason this chapter took so long. And I admit that Yugito will be my main character of that new story and that I'm going to try out the most unpopular pairing ever for my first foray into attempting to write romance of any kind (I can't seem to find any good fics on it at all, so if you know of any, please tell me!). I'm not going to say which one, but I'll give you a really obvious hint: cat and dog. The romance won't be central (politics and that sort of drama is more my thing), but it's nerve wracking to write it all the same.
> 
> I'm not sure when I'll be posting it, but it'll see the light of day eventually. Never fear, this one will be finished first.
> 
> And yes, we are rapidly approaching the end. Some of you might have guessed the end, but I'll be very surprised if you have. I've been working very hard not to make it obvious until we get closer.
> 
> Maybe six more chapters, or close to that. I'll post them as soon as I'm happy with them, I promise.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me so far!


	22. Chapter 22

They had returned to a Konoha still in the frenzy of panic.

Itachi hadn't sped homeward after splitting from Yuji and Kyuubi, so their return wasn't as early as it may otherwise have been. Kyuubi's words had worried him, so he had ordered Hinata-kun to warn them once the duo was on the edge of her vision. When she had, they had switched from journeying south to shadowing the pair, just barely keeping them in Hinata's range.

It had seemed a valuable decision at the time. They had learned through Hinata that Kyuubi could manifest in the world through a typical bunshin, separate from Yuji. Hinata had kept them in range, reporting on the Kyuubi's joyous antics—chasing scent trails and bounding in the surf—while Yuji ran ahead with a bewildered smile. When the two had joined up again for lunch, Itachi had felt he had kept them under surveillance long enough and turned their course towards Konoha again.

And then around noon the second day Kakashi-san had spotted the smoke on the southern horizon.

They had sprinted with everything they were worth, but still they had only made it back that evening. Buildings crushed, the calm ruined—it had been a horrifying callback to Oto's attack, if not as severe. Tsunade-sama had been busy with the wounded, doing no injury to her image, but a Dragon-masked ANBU agent came to collect them an hour after they had been told to see their families and make themselves useful. In the space of that hour, Itachi had heard from his mother about Kyuubi's appearance before Pain and his attack on the Monument.

He bowed his head in shame when he was brought before a select meeting of the council in Admin. "I take full responsibility for letting Kyuubi out of my team's sights yesterday," he said, sweeping his gaze over Koharu-sama, Homura-sama, Danzou, and Dragon–1, who was sitting in while the Hokage was otherwise occupied. He would have preferred not to have had Danzou present, but today was simply not a lucky day for anyone.

"It remains to be seen whether it is a failure or a happy accident," Koharu-sama rumbled, her bleary eyes still keen with intelligence. "If Kyuubi had not come, would we have been able to fend off a wielder of the mythical Rinnegan? We had not managed to thwart him in the time before Kyuubi appeared."

"Kyuubi was exposed to those seeking him, which is a terrible risk," Danzou objected, his eyes narrowed. "Would it not have been better to weather the storm without offering them the very item they are seeking? And now the Kyuubi has yet again attacked our village, and the boy, who vocally rejected allegiance with Konoha, has captured this dangerous person called Nagato. The man is in the perfect position to turn the tables on the boy. As I have long said, Kyuubi must not be allowed to wander beyond the confines of the village any longer. He is Konoha's responsibility. Sarutobi failed to raise the jinchuuriki correctly, and in so doing, failed to protect the village's interests! And it was the Yondaime's mistake before that to bestow the beast upon a newborn child in such an uncertain climate. Konoha would have been better served by putting the beast in a more seasoned and _loyal_ shinobi."

Ah, politics. Danzou's ideals required that the Kyuubi be kept both protected and caged. The Will of Fire Sandaime-sama had espoused… Well, it had failed to kindle in Yuji. Such a public demonstration was hardly something Danzou would pass up.

Dragon–1, who had most likely witnessed everything every step of the way, made no comment. ANBU did not take sides between Hokage and generally kept their mouths shut before elders. Or they were supposed to. "We are here for Uchiha Itachi's team to report," he rasped. "Hokage-sama is busy saving lives. She has ordered us to make sense of events, now that knowledge of the situation is no longer limited to the Hokage." _You are adequate replacements while she does more important things, since there's no helping that you know now even though she didn't believe you were worthy of being told before._

Itachi refrained from smirking.

He told his tale, leaving no details out except for ones he did not believe it was wise for Danzou to know about, ones he had not shared with his team: information Yuji and Kyuubi had revealed through his genjutsu. He kept to the facts as he was cross-examined by the three councillors. They were particularly interested in the remark he had overheard Yuji making to Hinata about meeting a chakra impression of his father, the Yondaime.

He played a dangerous game, concealing information from people of such high rank; the councillors had never liked the path the Sandaime had opened up for the Uchiha by making Itachi an assistant all those years ago, bestowing great favour upon him, the son of the man they knew was plotting rebellion. There had been talk of blood, of calling upon Shisui to bend his father's mind, but a lull had been created with that dangling carrot of an Uchiha as Hokage.

The Sandaime had been very clever, playing upon Fugaku's pride in his son, and perhaps too soft, given the current state of things, but it had given Itachi time, time to learn and mature and bring Shisui and Sasuke in with him.

Once he was finished, he was made to tell it again. And again. And then questioned for details in a very random order, seeking holes in his story. When the next round of questions involved his every word being contested, he knew this was an interrogation, not a debriefing.

It made him a little angry, to still be so suspected, but he kept it off his face.

Kakashi-san was brought in then and made to tell his version of events. He was not questioned as closely, but he was cross-examined as well. Dragon–1 watched Itachi's face the whole time, looking for a reaction to any word said.

Hinata was brought in next, and the same thing happened all over again. They questioned her very closely on the sights only she had seen with her Byakugan, but they were easier on her. She played her usual role: reticent, hesitant, childlike—and there was the pity Hinata sought in Homura-sama and Koharu-sama's eyes. Sasuke had told him that she hated the sight of it, the one emotion that kept her relevant.

Shisui was not brought in. Itachi knew why, so he did not ask, but it made him no less concerned that Danzou was in the room with him with that ruined, wrapped arm. Hopefully, one of their kinsmen had gone with Shisui to be interrogated by those with a slim hope of resisting Shisui's genjutsu.

While Shisui's strength was lauded, and while he was loyal, Konoha's higher ups did not trust him. It was probably another reason why Itachi had been chosen by the Sandaime instead of his more talented cousin: Itachi was strong, but people would not suspect he was controlling their very thoughts.

They were dismissed then with the warning that they would probably be called back during the night for more questions if necessary. Before he left, he said, "Where is Sasuke? My mother said he was with the team, and he has not returned. She is very worried he was injured on the mission."

Koharu-sama pursed her lips. "Your brother has claimed to have seen something very interesting. We are debriefing him thoroughly; the analysts had many questions for him. Actually, you and Kakashi should go to them. He should be nearly finished, and you may be able to cast light on some points."

Curious, Itachi followed a Dragon with less blue on his mask than Dragon–1 (lower in the hierarchy) downstairs to a small meeting room. The Dragon made it clear that Hinata wasn't wanted, but she pleaded worry about her best friend and was reluctantly permitted entry. Inside, the chalkboards were covered in a disorganized scrawl as a few people in white coats and several ANBU agents yammered over each other, talking implications and references (or lack of them) and possible angles. In the centre of the room, his arms crossed and scowling, Sasuke was defiantly insisting that, no, the masked man's clothes hadn't been smouldering, not even a little, around the burned section of skin.

"Ah! Hatake Kakashi!" some woman with thick glasses called, pointing rudely. The entire room turned.

Kakashi-san blinked slowly, looking slightly uncomfortable to be made the centre of attention, and raised a hand in greeting. "Yo."

"You can settle this once and for all," grumbled Inoichi-san, rapping his chalk against the board where a circle with something like a three-pointed pinwheel design was drawn. "You recently got that fancy Sharingan like Shisui's working. Activate it so we can compare with what Sasuke saw."

Kakashi-san went very still for just a second as Itachi grasped the implication.

Uchiha Obito? Hadn't the other half of his body been crushed beneath boulders? Who could have extracted the eye from that? True, they had never found his body after the war, reluctantly writing it off as lost to Earth or Grass ninja, but there had been hope that at least his other eye had been destroyed instead of taken.

Sasuke huffed. "I know what my sensei's Sharingan looks like." He turned to Hinata and pointed at the drawing. "That's it, right?"

She nodded hesitantly, glancing up at her sensei, but he shook his head and began calling up chakra. Itachi watched, used to the uneasy tension a Mangekyou Sharingan put into the air. He hadn't seen Shisui's often (they weren't often sent out together), but it was interesting how different the morph from three tomoe to the pinwheel was from Shisui's four-point pinwheel.

Sasuke glared at a couple of the ANBU. "See?"

"Confirmed match," said the woman in glasses, brushing a number of questions off the board and then updating her list of facts. "So, the man who the jinchuuriki and Kyuubi claimed was behind the attack sixteen years ago has Uchiha Obito's other eye and access to Mokuton abilities."

Mokuton? "Ah, yes, that would match up with the Senju the Kyuubi mentioned was in his nature," Itachi said.

"When did Kyuubi say this?" Inoichi-san demanded.

"I am not certain I am at liberty to say."

"Full clearance on all related missions has been temporarily granted to those in this room," their Dragon escort rasped.

"Sandaime-sama had me question the Kyuubi about the night of the attack. He went so far as to share a memory of it."

"Would you recognize the man?" glasses woman asked excitedly.

"If Sasuke would share?"

With a twist of his lips, Sasuke wove a basic genjutsu, making the man appear to Itachi in the room. He compared it to the vast difference of perspective given Kyuubi's height and nodded. "It could be a match; the mask is similar but not the same except for the orange and the single eye hole. Slight differences in height and build could be accounted for by the years, if the man were still working towards full maturity sixteen years ago."

"You're speculating that he wasn't yet fully grown during Kyuubi's attack?" Glasses girl was oblivious to the tension that rose in the room.

"It would be a good explanation for the new few inches of height and the stockier build. Youths tend to be more slender, and a simple muscle mass gain wouldn't account for increased height."

"That puts him in the range of late twenties to mid thirties?" She scrawled this on the chalkboard.

"Sensei?" Hinata whispered.

Hatake Kakashi was very, very still.

Itachi decided not to remark that the simplest explanation was often the most correct because his danger sense was skyrocketing.

The girl, unfortunately, did not possess a danger sense. "That would be consistent with Uchiha Obito's age. Are we certain he died?"

Sasuke winced.

Kakashi-san replied. "We never recovered his remains from beneath the tons of boulders after the war. They were gone, assumed taken by Earth or Grass."

"Then we can't rule him out," she said brightly. "His incorporeal technique, Kakashi-san, would you care to speculate on how you think it works? Sasuke is convinced that it's tied to wherever objects he sucks up go."

"After the flaming cat got sucked up, he got burned and stopped using it," his brother growled, eyes narrowed at the girl.

"But you admit that he sucked up several Fire techniques without exhibiting similar symptoms."

Itachi hid a chuckle as Sasuke almost growled.

"If when the cat got sucked up, he was moved to another place— _like Kakashi-sensei's Kamui does_ —then the cat would be in that dimension and would _maybe_ be able to attack the corporeal bits, if that's what he's doing when kunai go through him."

"But we've never recorded an instance of only partial body application of a space-time jutsu. It ought to cause his organs to stop functioning, to have his heart suddenly taken to this other dimension because an attack goes through it! That's not feasible!" she protested.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's a Sharingan power."

"You say that like it explains everything!"

Itachi decided to take mercy on the girl. "A Mangekyou Sharingan power is a very closely guarded clan secret, but I can tell you that most have a power unique to each set of eyes, indeed, sometimes to the left or the right eye."

"Which would explain why Kakashi-san's eye exhibits a different skill set, sucking things into that other place remotely instead of localized to the man's eye. Should we give him a name? There are a lot of 'men' in this context, with all the other Akatsuki members, corpses or not, involved."

"What would you suggest," asked Inoichi-san dryly.

"The jinchuuriki called him 'Orange Mask'," Sasuke said.

"Yuji-san is fond of that name," Itachi seconded, sensing as his brother did that, unchecked, the woman would want to call the man Obito.

However, she simply nodded and marked it down. "So, where do things _go_ when targeted by your Kamui technique, Kakashi-san? How do you recover them? The jinchuuriki was taken, but the toads came to inform us that he managed to escape with their help," she said, tapping a note behind her on the chalkboard. "We haven't had a chance to interview the one he spoke to; the team working on the jinchuuriki problem have him right now."

Itachi stared. Orange Mask had captured Yuji? He glanced at his brother, who nodded. "I was there to protect him, he said, to prevent Kyuubi from being taken. He knew he was coming. He and Kyuubi knew. There was a scout (scouts? They talked about them as a plural, but they moved as one being according to the fox…) moving through the earth. Even Kyuubi couldn't catch it. They did not want the man Yuji took taken or interrogated. Orange Mask went after Yamanaka-san after he took Kyuubi and Nibi."

"Nibi?" Itachi was having trouble keeping up. He desperately wanted to make his brother run through the story from start to finish instead of handing over pieces like this.

"Yuji and Kyuubi pulled it out of the mouth of a huge statue with nine eyes. Kyuubi was pissed about it."

"I'm not entirely sure where my technique sends the target object," Kakashi-san said dryly. "I'm a little too concerned that it is _away_. I haven't been able to bring anything back, as of yet, but perhaps that is from lack of trying. I had considered it more a 'dematerialization' effect than a space/time jutsu. Perhaps with some work, I could figure it out."

"It would be a good idea," Inoichi-san said. "Unless you can be reverse summoned, anyone lost to the dimension would be trapped there. It's always a good idea to have an escape route."

Kakashi-san nodded.

"Best you start now. They're probably going to send a team after the kid now that Akatsuki's got his scent and for what he did to the Monument. With Orange Mask involved, if you can undo his abilities, you'll probably be sent out." It was also unsaid, but Itachi knew that Inoichi-san was thinking it: if it was Obito, Kakashi-san knew him as he had been best and would be the best equipped to recognize him, if nothing else.

* * *

Itachi only found out about the team because Sasuke heard Hinata was going. He and Shisui had an agreement to not ask about each other's missions unless the topic was volunteered; it made sharing an apartment more comfortable.

He was stung at not being included, but he had claimed responsibility for letting Kyuubi walk away from his team and slip past them to get to Konoha when he had suspected the result. That his _entire team_ except for him was being sent was a little galling though.

Sasuke slumped on his couch and smirked at him, having come over to his apartment an hour earlier. He claimed it was because his brother had the nicer television, but Itachi knew better and was sorry for it. Life at home was not easy for Sasuke, what with Fugaku still expecting him to surpass Itachi's legacy to be worthy of any praise. With Itachi's very visible leaving of the compound with Shisui in his wake to become roommates with the man called Tenzou (a nearly known ANBU agent) at the beginning of September, Fugaku wasn't as pleased with his oldest son anymore, but things hadn't changed as much as he would have liked for Sasuke. His father's expectations were a hard habit to break.

"Kakashi-sensei is in charge of the team. There are three ANBU with them. They're really counting on this one guy, a Rat."

"Rat–67?"

Sasuke shrugged. "That might've been it. Why?"

"Rat–67 is the agent that fulfilled the role of Yuji's father."

His brother frowned. "They're sending his father after him? Why didn't they do that before?"

"I'm not certain. I have never spoken with Rat–67. If he is the one that trained Yuji, though, he would probably have better insight into his methods of escape. Did Hinata say what their objective was? Are they to capture him and take the Rinnegan wielder back? Or are they to bring Yuji back? And then what?"

Sasuke shot him a side-eye look as he flipped the TV on. "You know Hinata wouldn't say that. I'm her best friend, but she's not a blabbermouth. There are ANBU agents on the mission; I'm pretty sure she knows what that means."

"Masked?"

"Yeah."

"A unique team. It'll make it difficult for her to work with them. They know she can see through their masks. She'll have some confidentiality documents signed then."

His brother grimaced. "Shisui-nii too?"

"Of course. Not that they'll trust them."

Sasuke frowned and then whipped his head around as a sparrow tapped on the window.

Itachi opened it for the bird, which alighted on his forearm and twittered at him. "I have to go."

"Yeah, yeah." Sasuke waved him off, his eyes going back to the TV.

"You will cede it to Tenzou when he gets back."

Sasuke smirked. "We'll see. His scare tactics are pretty lame."

Rolling his eyes, Itachi snagged his coat off the hook, the sparrow fluttering angrily before snagging its claws around the shell of his ear, and headed out the door.

* * *

When the sticky warmth of Mount Myouboku hit him, Takashi grimaced behind his mask. It was early in the day, but he could tell that noon would be stiflingly muggy, worse than any summer in the south. He followed his team up the mountain path to a watchtower where the toad on duty the day before had spotted Kyuubi heading southeast. They studied the terrain, all jutting peaks and steep slopes with little winding valleys. Rough country, but with four legs, Kyuubi would be able to conquer it far more easily than someone with two.

Shisui was pulling out their maps of the area, one political and the other geographical, and the more detailed studies of this area of western Earth. "Will you pinpoint our location, Fukasaku-sama?" he asked. "Jiraiya-sama never marked down an exact location."

"I have your word that our location shall not be marked?"

Each team member nodded solemnly, and the toad poked a finger at one of the detailed closeups. "Here."

"So he swung from east to southeast?" Shisui asked the watch toad, who had been brought up with them for questions.

The toad nodded and pointed out the narrow valleys where he had caught glimpses of the fox.

"Definitely southeast if not even more south…" Shisui muttered. "Silicon City?"

"The trajectory looks right," Kakashi-san said, shading his eye with a hand. "Port Mure or Wind Temple would also make sense, but Silicon would be the closest and Jiraiya-sama's reports do place him there on occasion. Rat?"

"He knows to hide among civilian populations to put people off his trail. He also knows the shipping lanes. Port Mure is the better target in that sense, but Silicon City has Fair Port and Green Harbour to the south, both fairly major harbours for the east-west sea trade. He is partial to the southern sea as well. He will aim for it."

Nodding, Kakashi-san led them across the slopes to where Kyuubi had been sighted, the old toad riding on his shoulder. Dog found tracks, large paw prints in a soft spot of grassy soil. The nicks from the claws were the most noticeable. The trail was definitely heading along a trajectory heading more in line with Silicon City. Dog, Kakashi-san, and his pack picked up lingering traces of the beast's scent before the team leader nodded. "Fukasaku-sama, is there any chance of a little help south?"

The old toad smiled softly. "I will only help you as far south as that city. We have done enough already for him to see this as a betrayal, but you are up against Kyuubi and Naruto. Together, they are formidable, each balancing the other out to an extent. Even with my help, I do not know that you will catch up. A couple of my people are near the city. I shall have them summon you."

"Not all of us," Kakashi-san said, holding up a hand. "While it's likely that he went there, there's no guarantee he's not playing upon our assumption. He spoke to you of the eastern sea. Half of the team will go while the other tracks him the long way. We'll keep in touch."

"It's a six-day journey from here to Silicon," Shisui warned. "That's a lot of distance to make up."

"Then we'd better get started. He's got a lot of hours on us, and he can run a lot faster. Rat, Hinata, Shisui, Dog—you four are going to Silicon. Monkey, Neji—you're with me; we're going the long way. Fukasaku-sama, is that acceptable?"

The old toad nodded.

"Rat," Kakashi-san said, turning to him, "you're lead for your team. Dog is second. Send us word the moment you pick up on anything and we'll come to join you."

Takashi saluted rather than speak. He studied the two regular forces ninja assigned to him: the Uchiha and the Hyuuga. He had not worked with either of them before—his genin team had not known any main branch Hyuuga. The rumours said she was pitiable, but if she really was, she wouldn't be assigned to this mission. Her cousin was supposed to be brilliant, and he looked it, but the very pitiableness of Hinata—her waifish appearance, her scars, her eyepatch—hinted that it was very carefully cultivated.

They arrived in a park on the northwestern edges of the city, right along Lake Eisa and one of the rivers that fed her. It was almost marshy, a strange sight in Wind. The toad that had summoned them bid them luck after telling them how to find him again if they did need to summon their other teammates, and Takashi took over a picnic table, gesturing that everyone sit down. He created a henge and removed his mask, altering his voice slightly as well. "You may call me Fabian while I am wearing this face. We are going to be moving through crowds, and wearing a mask is not a good way to avoid being detected.

"Hinata-san, how far away can Yuji be before you lose sight of him?"

She shuffled nervously. "Ten kilometres."

"So fifteen," he said mildly, watching her carefully. She flinched only slightly. _Thirteen is probably more accurate then._ "Or have you never actually measured?"

"Kakashi-sensei tested me to ten kilometres."

"Before you made chuunin?"

She nodded.

"And you could pick up the look of Yuji and Kyuubi's chakra at the far limits of your range?"

She nodded more firmly now. "Yuji's is harder—it is a softer glow, not so bright—but it is a warm yellow. Kyuubi's is … unique."

"Yuji is trained to cover his tracks for scent, but with Kyuubi in charge, we might get lucky. Dog, Hinata, I want you to start by running the perimeter of the city, starting in the northeast and working clockwise. Try to stay about ten to twenty kilometres beyond the city limits; if Kyuubi is in charge, he may be less wary of leaving traces than Yuji is, and it's more likely he will stay in charge until it becomes necessary for Yuji to interact with people. Shisui, you're with me. We shall visit Konoha's people in the city and recruit their aid. Yuji has a penchant for making contact with whores, but I do not know if this trend will hold with them on the run. It gives us a starting point if nothing else though." He spread out a map of Silicon City and the surrounding area.

"We aren't certain of Kyuubi's top travelling speed, but we are certain thanks to Shisui and Hinata's previous mission that he is much faster than ninja. For us, travel between here and Mount Myouboku would take six or seven days. If we halve that, he would not be here yet, since he left yesterday afternoon. Let's assume he might be even faster than I speculate, but prepare to be laying the groundwork for their arrival as well."

* * *

Itachi was quite certain he was not comfortable with his current situation.

Tsunade-sama had no real reason to like him. He knew this. He had stolen her necklace, had helped bring her back to a village she had wanted to never see again, and was actively if subtly campaigning to be her successor.

This determined mistrust _hurt_ though.

She had sent every member of his team with the ANBU trio to hunt down Yuji except for him. Making good on the earlier threat, she and Dragon had called him back and gone through it with him all over again much later the night before, more than once, and singly, which had made it feel like an interrogation again. He had been grateful that this meeting had happened in a soundproofed, sealed room. He would not have felt comfortable revealing everything Yuji and Kyuubi had shared with him through that pool and certain interpretations of events otherwise.

Someone unwholesome might have been listening like during that first interrogation.

Now the sparrow led him back up to the doors of ANBU headquarters. Dragon-san was waiting there, the blue-drenched mask always the same, ever since Itachi's time with the Sandaime.

The agent nodded to him and led him deep into the bowels of ANBU to that same sparse room where the Hokage was waiting. Once Dragon-san closed the door, she repeated the handseals from the last interrogation that made the room feel very isolated. Soundproofing.

"Sit down," Tsunade-sama growled, flicking her hand at the chair across the table from her while Dragon-san found a spot to lean against the wall. "Do you know why you weren't sent out with the rest?"

Itachi clamped down on the urge to be flippant. Just because he envied her influence and position and hated being excluded did not give him leave to be rude. "I am not certain," he admitted. "Perhaps because Yuji extended trust towards me, and you have hopes that I can play upon that in future, so you do not want me associated with his capture."

She looked nonplussed for a moment. Apparently, that hadn't been the reason she had thought of, and she now wished she had. "Good, but not all. Does the brat have a _reason_ to trust you?"

"I have been mostly straightforward in my dealings with him."

"But you are still Konoha's, and we both know he _does not trust Konoha_. Have you done something to separate yourself from the village in his mind?"

Itachi frowned. "As I reported to the Sandaime, I deliberately gave Yuji a list of monasteries we had ties to when I suspected he was preparing to make a break for it. I also did not classify the Kyuubi as an evil being while in conversation with him, pointing out that the association with Madara was the main cause, though I did mention the destruction he had wrought in the past when he was free. I suspected that he and the bijuu were speaking and that there was sympathy. I was rewarded with the memory of Kyuubi's release from Uzumaki Kushina and the man responsible. They assigned me the task of killing that man. More recently, my team exercised restraint while Yuji broke the seal and nearly lost control. I also cooperated in giving him information about Akatsuki and the Uzumaki Mask Hall." He paused, still a little struck with that oddity. "I have never truly acted against him, at worst being a cautionary voice. To my knowledge, neither of the two favours that he granted me have been used in a way that caused him harm."

She eyed him in silence for a long time. "The fox has struck at Konoha. According to your team, he said he was going to go as far away from here as possible, and yet he beats your team here. There is no record of him crossing the barrier, except to leave. We have his chakra signature and Kyuubi's. Did you tell him some way of avoiding detection?"

Itachi frowned. "Hokage-sama, _I_ do not know any way of avoiding the barrier's detection: from the little I know of it, it is capable of detecting suppressed chakra. If he did learn of some way, it would make more sense that Kyuubi learned of it through Mito-sama or Kushina-sama. The fox is a wily creature. It is also possible Yuji devised some seal with what he learned from Wind Temple. Kyuubi would certainly know of the barrier's existence."

She grunted. "You understand that it is hard to take what you say at face value. You have had unwitnessed conversations with the boy and the bijuu in front of your own team and only confessed them to me at the very last moment."

"Because, as I said, I suspect that there is a reason he _does not trust Konoha_. His mother is the one that always comes up, but his hatred of Danzou was too personal to be for the reason he said!"

"His team leader has ties to Danzou—"

"As Yuji said, yes, but he is colder than I remember. He is guiltier than I remember. He has killed. And I suspect that Danzou is part of that." Itachi realized with a start that he had pressed his palms to the table and leaned forward to put physical presence behind his points. It was a terrible slip, but Tsunade looked slightly reassured by it.

She leaned back in her chair and nodded slightly. "We investigated the day's comings and goings. There are several anomalies, but among them is Boar–36. We lost contact with him in Wind about four months ago. If he returned to the village, as the records suggest, he should have checked in. He could be among those killed by Akatsuki, but most of the bodies have been found and identified by now. The wall patrols think they spotted him about half an hour before the boy presented himself before me. We've found no other sign of his presence."

"Boar–36's chakra signature… What was his mission in Wind? Would it have taken him near Yuji?" Four months ago, the boy had still been in that country according to the information he had been given.

She nodded. "He was there with a tracker teammate, trying to find signs of another team that disappeared a couple months earlier." Her eyes narrowed. "There have been a number of groups going MIA over the past couple years."

"Always in Wind?"

She shook her head.

"But do all of them have some connection to Danzou? Or at least the first one?"

"What is the first one? ANBU does dangerous work; teams do go missing, unfortunately."

"Time the start of the trend with when Yuji was confirmed to be in Wind."

Dragon-san pushed off the wall at this point and made some hand signs, most part of the set that Itachi knew, though there were some from what had to be ANBU's own subset. Teams going out and not coming back, usually teams with a hunting component, either chakra sensing or scent-trackers, and then skills with taking people alive.

For Dragon-san to already have this information meant he must have begun to suspect as well.

"Root affiliation?" Itachi asked.

All he got was a nod.

He sighed very softly. This was very, very bad if it was true. "Danzou has been hunting Yuji."

"We cannot be sure," Tsunade-sama cautioned, but he knew she was just trying to play the devil's advocate, a role that didn't fit someone that jumped to conclusions as quickly as she did.

"Yuji and Kyuubi have been killing the teams that find them. He must extract chakra from them beforehand. Yuji was trained to throw off pursuit, to kill those that came after him if he could." And he, or rather the Kyuubi, definitely could. "Unless he learned some very special seals, those teams are truly dead." Danzou was cold to continue for two years with such a failure rate. To throw team after team at the problem, teams too small to truly handle the terror that was Kyuubi, but small to keep suspicion down…

Tsunade-sama's face went still as stone. He had never quite understood her reasons for not dragging the boy back after being made Godaime. She had no reason to like the boy and while she might have shared the Sandaime's reasons (not wanting that problem back on home soil if the Kyuubi was getting through), he wasn't sure that was the whole picture. She had only really brought Itachi back in the loop recently, but there had seemed to be a distinct lack of action on her part despite the protests of other parties according to the information he had been given for his last mission.

Perhaps she had just considered the whole bijuu mess more trouble than it was worth until circumstances had forced her to confront it.

Quick-tempered as always, she struck, like a viper, slamming her fist onto the table with a crunch. "Why was he in Konoha?"

Itachi didn't flinch, though he had redone his inventory of weapons and begun moulding chakra the moment she had started moving, ready. "If I had to guess, I'd say the Uzumaki Mask Hall. From what I overheard of Hinata's last conversation with Yuji, he met his father, Namikaze-sama. His move from irritation with his father to hatred was between Kakashi-san recognizing the resemblance and after that battle. What would Minato-sama have at the Uzumaki Mask Hall?"

Still scowling, though now it was from thought, Tsunade eased up slightly. "His wife was the Uzumaki, not him. Jiraiya remarked about Minato's interest in Kushina's family techniques though. One of his last acts according to Sarutobi's notes was to perform one of her family's techniques, the Shiki Fūjin. It's not common knowledge and definitely only a last resort." She paused, looking pained. "You only use it if you're dead anyway, according to the Geezer.

"I kept you back because I have an assignment for you, Itachi-kun. I want you to figure out what he was doing here. If you're right and he was using Boar–36's chakra to mask his and the Kyuubi's, there's half an hour unaccounted for. You've been in his head. I expect you to have some insight into how he'll think. My other expert is with the hunters, and Tenzou… Let's just say he's away, otherwise occupied. I half expect to hear from the little shit via the journal soon. He'll want to rationalize things; he sees himself as in the right, and this attack won't sit quite right with him."

Itachi cocked his head at her with a slight smile. "It sounds as if you do know him."

"He monologued a bit before heading off after Nagato."

Yuji could be longwinded, but monologuing? Itachi suspected exaggeration but didn't interrupt.

"You're going to go over any messages with me. You're also going to find out what he's up to, what he did here."

* * *

Hinata's calves burned as they jogged up yet another mountain ridge in the barely lightening dark, false dawn just beginning to have an impact. She could not even remember how many inclines this was now. It seemed that the last hour since they had started their third repetition of the patrol circuit at the northern shore of Lake Eisa had been an unending pattern of struggling up the rises and then stumbling down the other side when not angling precariously on the heights. She had not yet spotted anything different from their same run yesterday afternoon and night.

Dog-san was—to avoid the obvious pun—relentless. He never faltered, even as he crouched low to get his nose close to the ground or to peer at markings in the scree or scrub. It was as if everything were fresh for him, as though the previous two times over this ground hadn't made this exercise boring already.

She did her best to keep to his pace. Keeping her frail appearance unfortunately meant that she lacked quite a bit of muscle mass she might have had otherwise. Yet another grievance to lay at the door of the Fiasco. Her last mission, with all the running, had been hellish. With only five and a half hours of sleep in the last two days, she was beginning to feel the drag. She gasped in another breath and struggled to concentrate while Dog-san zigzagged methodically back and forth, seeking something within his wide swathe. She, with the larger range of vision, was supposed to be more useful, but she wasn't sure how. Chakra dissipated quickly once outside the body, and it didn't roll off people like scent unless they had far too much in their systems, leading to inevitable diffusion into the environment. Kyuubi was doing that to Naruto-san, she supposed, but such diffusion did not last long.

Dog suddenly stopped.

Hinata stumbled, she was so surprised. Focusing, she spotted a slight pale streak upon a rock. Further inspection revealed that there were three other similar markings nearby, almost in a row.

Dog-san bent and sniffed deeply. "Kyuubi," he rasped. "But there's something else. Fear? It didn't smell like this before, at the toad's mountain. Do you see anything that way, back along the trail?"

Narrowing her eyes, she studied the route back. "If there's something, it's beyond my range."

Nodding, Dog-san went through some handseals and produced two bunshin, one of which took off back along the trail while the other began slowly tracking Kyuubi onwards. "I'll continue my circuit to see if he leaves the city in case my bunshin loses the trail in the chaos. You go report to Rat."

With a sharp nod, she sprinted back towards Silicon City, swinging wide of Kyuubi's trail to not muddle the scent or tracks. Once she was within three kilometres of the city limits, she began calling hails on her radio, hoping that someone would respond even if she hadn't yet spotted Shisui or Rat. She continued, spiralling towards the pleasure district, where they were working. She finally picked up on strong chakra presences that were familiar and was soon within calling distance of them.

"Rat–67, Shisui."

"Here, Hinata-kun," Shisui called back cheerfully.

"Dog–51 confirmed Kyuubi's trail heading towards the city. He has clones tracking it forward and back while he completes his circuit."

"Huh, so the hunch was right."

"The trail?" Rat–67 broke in.

"Claw marks and a scent trail. Dog mentioned that the scent is different from how it was back at Mount Myouboku. He speculated it might be fear."

"Hinata, go join up with Dog's clone. Try to get a visual on Yuji. Circle around Dog's clone at a distance to get as much of the city in your range as possible. We won't have a lot of time to find him, if he's stopped here at all. Do not approach if you locate him. Get myself or Shisui. Shisui, approach with caution. Rendering him unconscious is preferable to having him spot you. If you take him, hide him. Kyuubi is not afraid of many things.

"Shisui, put our contacts on the job, but join back up with Hinata. Hinata, try to keep him in radio range. I'm going to get the toad to bring the rest of the team in. I'll join up with you the moment that's done, but Wenderway Bazaar in the southern quarter is our meet up point in case we lose contact."

* * *

Yuji had never been sure whether he liked or hated Silicon City. It was the site of his first murders, but it also had some of the nicest clubs he had ever come across—they had access to the newest tech here. It had an excited and eager atmosphere with a tech edge that Port Mure lacked. He wasn't in the frame of mind to really grapple with the question though.

The feeling of being hunted was very strong, more potent than it had ever been, even during that first escape from the Red City and moving through Port Mure in search of his mom. There were fingers of dread crawling up his back.

Worse, even Kurama was concerned and jittery. He was usually all about being blasé about "ants", but Zetsu unnerved him.

With Zetsu incoming and with Konoha a looming shadow to his rear, he was almost glad that he was starving; it meant he had nothing to make him queasier than he already was. He needed food though, and he needed to feed and water his prisoner, which was another cause for concern.

He had no idea if his seals were capable of holding the Rinnegan's powers in check.

Kyuubi's chakra seeped back under his skin when they hit the outskirts of Silicon, cutting it a little close, but Yuji was no longer certain if secrecy was more effective than speed. Painting another Root agent's chakra over his skin was a nerve-wracking process: the precision required contradicted the haste his terror inspired.

_I really wish we hadn't cut our contract with the toads!_

**_It was necessary._ **

_And it leaves us without a safety net, you statue crusher! You think burning Nagato to ashes would get them off our case? Can they keep on with their dastardly plan without the Rinnegan?_

**_I cannot be sure. The masked Uchiha is not playing Nagato straight. I cannot be certain how much he is concealing._ **

_Great. Best to assume the worst then: everyone is right on our tail and we're about to be cornered by everybody. You keeping an eye out?_

**_Zetsu is definitely closing in, but I cannot say at this distance whether they have still got a tracer on us yet. Their ill intent is very strong, but it is spread out, as they are spread out in the land._ **

_Dammit! Okay, this is going to be a very short pitstop until we can be sure they're not angling towards us. What kind of approach time are we looking at?_

**_They will be at the cinders of the wards in less than half an hour, probably._ **

_Holy shit!_

**_They are taking a very odd route. They wind through the valleys of mountain ranges, but sometimes they circle around very widely. I cannot be sure, but since they are of Mokuton, perhaps they must move through plant routes or follow water._ **

_Goddamn it! You think salt water could stop them?_

**_You could try it._ **

Yuji considered his mental geographical map as he went through the farmers' stalls open in the market at this early hour—the sun still had yet to rise—buying vegetables and fruits and some roti from one woman and a jug of barley tea, stuffing his face when he could. He paused to fill one of his water bottles at a tap in someone's back yard as he tried to figure out whether to keep going or hope to hide in the seething masses of Silicon's inhabitants. _ETA?_

**_Zetsu is at the wards. They are stationary for now._ **

_If your guess is correct, the only place we'd be safe is on the moon or somewhere in the desert around Suna, unless salt water works._

**_Or on a mountain peak._ **

_Much as it's odd to say it, I don't think the mountains around here are barren enough. And if they can move through freshwater, snowpack is a viable pathway, so that narrows it down a lot: above the range of viable plant life and below the level of snow._

**_Tangent, boy._ **

Yuji grimaced. _The asshole is gonna have to wait. We can only deal with one situation at a time. Let's aim for the sea._

**_You place a ridiculous amount of faith in salt._ **

_I am a great believer in the Kinuzu. And if she fails me, I'd rather try to fight our fate out there than here in the middle of a city full of people or near Suna, where Gaara's dad is probably still pissed with us for sort of getting all his kids killed._

**_Then run._ **

* * *

Searching for someone's chakra in a city was very much like trying to find a single bead in a bowl of multicoloured and multi-sized ones. It was standard that people had some chakra—most civilians had just barely enough to keep a shinobi alive, little glimmers. There were lots of bright lights in the city as well though: shinobi and monks from various nations.

Naruto's chakra was a wry yellow haloing the burning inferno that was Kyuubi. Together, they were a blaze to rival the sun, Naruto's chakra the warmth while Kyuubi's was the raging brilliance. The effect was the most beautiful and fascinating she had ever seen.

It should have been a beacon, a huge neon bead in the bowl.

She had yet to catch a glimpse of it.

Dog's clone jogged through the city streets in the predawn and streetlight glow, everything illuminated in blue-grey and tawny yellow. Few people were out and about yet, but the city never truly slept. Naruto was refraining from acting like a ninja though: Dog's clone's movements indicated the boy was jogging at best. To blend in as a civilian? To avoid the need to use chakra?

"Shisui?"

After a long pause, Sasuke's cousin responded. "Yes?"

"I am going to pass out of the range of radio contact. I think I need to be further south—there is a lot of the city that way that's out of my range of vision right now."

"I can't move with you—I've got two more groups to alert and they're east, not south. I'll try to get back in range as soon as possible, okay? Go with your instincts."

"Okay."

"Luck!"

She sprinted over the rooftops to circle ahead of the clone, angling south. Dog–51 would take another hour or so to even begin combing the obvious exit routes as he orbited the city in their usual patrol path, but she had the feeling that Yuji wouldn't linger, not with Kyuubi afraid.

Dog's clone was going towards one of the early morning markets. Food? The toad had said Yuji had refused to eat…

She picked up her pace and tried to keep her irritation to a minimum. She was used to having the greatest range of detection around, but somehow the Kyuubi was supposedly keeping track of Orange Mask. He might be able to see her long before she spotted them.

"Anyone in range?" she whispered into the radio.

Crackling noise was the only reply. Even Dog's clone was outside of the radio's range. With a grimace, she noticed he was circling the market, trying to find an exit trail.

So many pretty beads, but all so dim! Except for about twenty… That one was dimmer, but it was odd.

Frowning, she focussed on it, sacrificing wide range for close inspection. What on earth?

There was a dim bubble of chakra over that person; a henge looked sort of like that, but the flame of chakra inside was still visible. This was masking the system inside.

_Oh…_

She sprinted southeast to get closer for greater penetration power. The bubble person was walking lackadaisically down a moderately busy thoroughfare, pausing now and then. Window shopping? Blending tactic?

Certainty began to rise within her. Hang the short range of these radios!

Suddenly, the person briefly turned in her direction and ducked into a side alley ever so casually. The moment he was in another south-running alley, he began sprinting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is one of the chapters that came about from my long break from posting. I suppose I should apologize for the wait, but I was very busy writing draft after draft on my side, trying to find the one that worked. It is a long process when working alone, because sometimes to get perspective, you have to take a step back, leave the words on the page unread for a couple days, and then come back with fresh eyes. I envy those people lucky enough to have beta readers to help them with that. Thanks for sticking with this story despite the break!


	23. Chapter 23

Dog–51's clone pressed against a spindly pine as he watched a two-coloured plant man and an orange-masked man, both in Akatsuki's garb, investigate something on the ground at the top of the ridge. They were talking, but his ears weren't good enough to catch the words. He began to edge closer.

* * *

**_The Hyuuga!_ **

_What about her?_

**_She's here. Not too far away and gaining._ **

_What?! How far is "not too far"?_

**_Human distances, fah! Nearer to us than the market._ **

_Okay, so within kilometres. Damn it all! Anyone else from Konoha?_

**_The other Uchiha, Shisui. He is farther away than the market and not moving in our direction. Also…_ **

_Also?!_

**_The Hyuuga is catching up._ **

Yuji had a very strong feeling that that wasn't what Kurama had been going to say, but the distraction was valid. _If she's the only one hunting us, we need to make sure she doesn't alert the others. And we need to figure out how she spotted us. I know Hyuuga can see through henge, but at this distance? I hoped that the Root chakra weaving would hide us better than that._ He studied his surroundings carefully as he sprinted, trying to come up with some kind of plan.

_How the hell do you surprise someone who's already seen you and can see through walls?_

**_In stalking, prey regroup, choosing terrain to their advantage._ **

_As good a plan as any. Does it look like she'll dare getting close?_

**_She is gaining, but I do not know if she will approach us. She is not a hunter; she is a tracker. She is a weak Hyuuga; she must be close to strike, but she is damaged._ **

_She is? I thought her injuries were a lie._

**_She is weakened. She feigns greater injuries, but there is some truth to it._ **

_Could she hurt us?_

Kurama was silent for a while. **_I am not very familiar with the Hyuuga as they are now. Mito and Kushina did not interact with them very much. They strike below the skin though, attacking the body and chakra pathways. She could damage us, but not faster than I think I can repair your body. No, the danger from her is that she will bring Shisui to us._**

_Shisui…_ Yuji frowned as he sprinted, mostly blind to the big picture since Kurama wasn't sharing his ill-intent sense. What had Dad said to do in a situation like this? As he tried to bring up that particular bit of wisdom, he evaluated his terrible position: his options were pretty damn narrow.

_If we use either of our chakra, Zetsu will locate us. (They're not coming our way yet, right?)_

**_They are nearing the city, but their path is not directly towards us; they are approaching the building where you isolated our chakra. That is probably the point where Zetsu lost track of us._ **

_Despite hiding our chakra, Hinata is on our fucking tail. Kami, I wish I knew what we look like to a Byakugan. I should have known Konoha would send one after us, especially after Hinata was on the last mission._

_If I could play them against each other, I would, but Konoha and that Sasuke failed miserably to hold Orange Mask off last time, so drawing them together won't help us._

**_Hinata is the only one from Konoha currently pursuing us._ **

Yuji's steps faltered. _You don't think she's told the rest of her team yet?_

**_They are quite far away, and I just detected her ill intent focus upon us._ **

Something cold began creeping into his guts. He pressed his hand against the chakra sucker seal in his pocket before pulling away to draw out yet another one from his storage seal, summoning the paper from the repository dimension.

The cold spread through him. Root all over again. Clenching his teeth, he set his goal firmly in front of him. Hinata could not be allowed to set Konoha on him before he managed to get to the Kinuzu.

_Where is she?_

**_I will guide you. Turn around. You will need speed. She is faltering. She may run._ **

_Then we'll catch her. But we need to make sure no one will hear her scream._

* * *

Hinata's breath caught. Her target had changed direction and was now running west. Why?

Frowning, she hesitated. Hadn't he started running because he had detected her? Or was this a trap?

The problem was that she still wasn't close enough to be sure. Worse, he was heading for the Wenderway Bazaar. While that was the meet-up point, he might manage to lose them in the thick crowds that were beginning to gather as bakeries and restaurants began their day.

Huffing through her nose, she pursued, trying to reassure herself that her team would catch up to her soon.

Pushing hard, she closed the distance between them. The target only ran as fast as a civilian even as she ate up the clicks, the swirling cloud of dull chakra masking his coil beginning to thin as her powers of penetration increased.

There were swirls here and there. Bright glows behind the dull teal cloud, licking up his spine to his head. The cloud was still too thick for the colour of the chakra behind to penetrate.

Five hundred metres. He was on the edge of the market now. So many glows for him to hide among, not that she thought she would lose him: the cloud was too distinctive. She had to get within two hundred metres; that had to be close enough!

And suddenly he was the one closing the distance, pale blue chakra fuelling ninja-speed while the teal cloud kept him concealed.

_So fast!_

She set herself on the low rooftop as the strange eyes in the strange face narrowed upon her, not the slightest flicker of mercy in them as orange and yellow chakra streaked like lightning within him behind the teal shroud.

She instinctively measured the timing, ready to perform Hakke Kūhekishō the moment he got in range, calm coming to her in battle, but suddenly the teal veil surged towards her, covering the space in the blink of an eye, an orange chakra arm within it.

Paper touched her and darkness came.

* * *

Takashi skidded to a halt when, the moment he came within radio range of the bazaar, Shisui's hails began coming through.

"Hinata-kun! Hinata, do you copy?"

"Shisui, report!" Kakashi-san barked from beside Takashi.

"Hinata moved out of radio range on a hunch. We agreed she would go south and that I would catch up. I've been ranging the area, but she's not responding. Dog's clone never heard from her either."

"Neji," Kakashi-san said, and the other Hyuuga shook his head, looking disturbed.

"She's not within my range."

"Join up with Shisui. Cover the southern half of the city again." He summoned his ninken and similarly ordered them to circle the area.

Within twenty minutes, the mutt Akino bayed from atop a roof. The other mutts were following her trail east, but Akino's news was not good.

"She was here, but so was the jinchuuriki."

Kakashi-san's eye was cold. "No blood?"

Akino shook his head. "There's barely any fear-stink. If he got her, he caught her by surprise and was quick."

"The fox?"

Akino shook his head. "Boy scent. No fox scent."

"And?"

Pakkun answered this time. "Heads into the market. Can't find his smell coming out."

So either he had traced his scent backwards to throw them off (but the actions of the other dogs seemed to make that unlikely), or Yuji had fallen back on Takashi's scent concealment training.

"He'll find perfume, new shoes and clothes, and most likely gloves. He may find a walking stick or something similar to alter the look of his tracks further," Takashi rasped.

"And Hinata?"

Behind the safety of his mask, he grimaced. "He was taught that prisoners were not worth the trouble."

"He claims to be a coward," Shisui pointed out, his eyes full of self loathing and desperate hope, "maybe…"

"Itachi's report to the Elders stated that he felt Yuji was colder than the last time they met," Kakashi-san pointed out mercilessly. "He'll still be going south. Once he's out of the city, he'll be isolated. Let's work on picking him out and meeting up with Dog."

* * *

Hinata drifted in the swirling haze. She wasn't quite sure how she had gotten here or that she wanted to leave, but something left her feeling vaguely uneasy about her surroundings. What if something to gobble her up was lurking out there?

Worse, for the first time in as long as she could remember, there was no chakra in sight. She had long ago learned to keep her ruined eye activated at all times to compensate for the lack of ability to see normally with it. To her, it was normal to have the vision to the left be full of chakra rivers overlaid over the peripheral vision from her right eye.

There was none of that here.

To both sides, there was just the mist.

And that was what let her know that she wasn't really seeing.

A general genjutsu, one not tailored to her reality.

She tried dispelling it, but there was no chakra, or at least none of hers. She could sense that there was chakra all around her, but she couldn't see it.

That was terrifying.

Struggling not to hyperventilate, she tried to see if she could sense her real body at all. Moving certain directions brought a feeling of resistance even as her sense of herself in the genjutsu moved freely; from that, she guessed that she was sprawled flat on her back wherever her body really was.

That was even more frightening. Lying down was so wrong; it meant that when she escaped this, she would lose precious time finding her feet to face her attacker.

Who?

She strained against the fog within and the lassitude. A flicker of memory was her reward: Naruto and the Kyuubi. They had gotten her. Embarrassment and indignation flooded her; being caught by the one she was supposed to be tracking was beyond terrible. Why had she gotten so close!? She had known how dangerous he was. She had needed to confirm he was her target, yes, but she should have waited for Shisui to back her up!

Caught in self-recrimination, she almost didn't notice the yellow shade the haze was gaining. _What on earth…?_

It was on her left side. To the right, all was still grey.

Was the genjutsu adapting to her reality?

How odd… She hadn't known genjutsu could do that. She had always considered them something like a film—created one way and set to play for the victim.

That this one was changing to make itself less odd according to her understanding of normal was a weakness in this case. She supposed that maybe just for her it was true: no other Hyuuga spent nearly every moment of every day with their eyes active the way she did to make up for her disability.

The haze gained greater definition, tendrils thickening into patterns.

She was inside a seal, she realized. She didn't know much about sealing, but she understood the motion of chakra very well, having watched so many ninja twist it to accomplish various jutsu. This didn't resemble any combination of handseals she had ever seen. Instead, it was more raw and more sinuous, wrapping tightly around her mind.

_He isn't bound by our rules,_ she realized with something like awe. _He wasn't taught sealing by a ninja, so it looks nothing like our forms._

Twelve handseals to accomplish all the standard jutsu had to be a short form, one with just enough variation to be useful and a reduced enough set for easy memorization. But this…

Even as the lines that hemmed her consciousness in gained more clarity, she began to realize that she did have chakra, just not enough for even the most basic jutsu and nothing she did could change that.

But was it enough to wriggle free of this seal?

She would have to find out.

* * *

When they ran into Dog–51 to the south of Silicon, Takashi was unnerved by what he had to say. "Two Akatsuki members are on his trail: Orange Mask and a plant man with two voices who is probably the scout Kyuubi pursued with ANBU. They were investigating something north of Silicon that smelled of ashes, probably something the jinchuuriki and Kyuubi left behind. They noticed my clone and it was destroyed. I think we need to know what they saw."

Kakashi-san nodded grimly, looking over his diminished team. "Monkey, Dog—get backup from our people in Silicon and get to it. Forward your findings to Tsunade and catch up to us as fast as you can." He tossed them a leather journal and they vanished. "Boys," he said to his hounds, who scattered without any further encouragement.

* * *

The snooping was the easiest part. Slipping under cover of darkness under a henge of an old priestess into the Uzumaki Mask Temple was fairly simple.

The investigating was a little harder with a candle for verisimilitude, but Itachi managed. In the flickering light, Yuji's footprints in the thick dust of the inner rooms were obvious. Even more so was the difference in colour between the wall and the bit that must have been behind the recently removed mask.

The research was harder. There were no books on the Hall of Masks or the Shiki Fūjin Tsunade-sama had mentioned, just thin rumours. After his fruitless inquiries with the libraries and with the permit office to see if a reason for the temple had been recorded with its building permits, he started visiting elderly gossips. It took one chatterbox a while, but she eventually recalled some ghost stories the Uzumaki children had pulled out at a sleepover: "The masks are death curses." It was frustrating, but that ended up being the most fruitful lead. He went looking into the connections between death and the Uzumaki. He didn't find much, but that didn't surprise him. A seal connected with death would be B-level at the very least, probably much higher, especially if no rumours persisted except about the masks and Jiraiya and the Sandaime's knowledge.

The Uzumaki Clan's property had fallen into Konoha's hands with Uzumaki Kushina's death—none of her kin had remained to claim it. It could have fallen to Tsunade, given how she was Uzumaki Mito's granddaughter, last scion of that line, but Tsunade-sama had been away from the village at the time with no plans of returning, so custody had fallen to Konoha.

Itachi pulled some strings very quietly to get into the archival lockup. It felt wrong to weasel his way in there, but this was too important to wait and possibly tip Danzou off by filing a form for more official permission. When he unlocked the drawer and looked over the pile of scrolls, he frowned.

There were far fewer than there should have been.

Activating his Sharingan, Itachi studied the small pile, careful not to touch anything. He sniffed, but he couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

Still, there was no record of previous access to these scrolls aside from Jiraiya and the Sandaime, which was expected of the one called "The Professor". So, either someone had come in as Itachi had, without official sanction, or someone had broken in.

Pushing the drawer closed, Itachi went straight to Shizune-san. Tsunade-sama ruled Konoha, but it was Shizune who made the whole mess work. If something needed doing, she was the one behind it actually getting done.

"I need an older Inuzuka, maybe one from ANBU. Important Konoha property is missing, and no one has accessed its storage location in years. I want to know who is responsible."

Within ten minutes, a masked man was peering into that too-empty drawer. He breathed deeply, poking the nose slits in his mask very close to the contents. "Only the faintest whiff of Sandaime-sama. Jiraiya-sama and Orochimaru were in this drawer, though the traces are fairly faint," whispered Dog. "There's another, a little more recently—stronger traces. The scent is not one I know immediately. It is vaguely familiar, though. I have smelled it recently, or a variation of it."

Itachi frowned. "Sweep the village; see if you can pick it up. You have the time?"

Dog shrugged. He snapped his fingers, and his pair of Inuzuka hounds trotted into the room to get the scent as well. Itachi gestured for Dog to take a small scroll and seal it in a bag. "I'll go through the rest of these while you do that. We'll keep that one for scent reference."

Once Dog's team was gone, Itachi set to reading. It was fascinating. He didn't know a whole lot about sealing, it was a rather passive art in shinobi terms, but the Uzumaki version of it was almost reckless. Their slapdash designs and summaries raised the hairs on his nape a few times. But there was nothing here about death curses or Shiki Fūjin.

Not a single whisper about the Mask Temple and the morbid designs either.

That couldn't be coincidence.

He wrote up what he could of his suspicions and findings, unsatisfied that his report was so thin. There was a lot going on here, he was certain. Orochimaru had seen this drawer's interior despite it not having been filled until _after_ he had fled Konoha and become a nukenin. Had he come here during the attack? Before that? Dog hadn't been able to specify.

He went back to waiting for information from Dog at the jounin lounge in Admin, nursing a mug of that godawful coffee they kept on hand. Jounin came and went over the next forty minutes, mostly ignoring or avoiding him until he initiated smalltalk, but they all glanced his way and took in the crystal pendant. Uchiha were an odd sight here: most worked in the Military Police the moment they reached chuunin, which had its own building well away from Admin. He made a point of having a presence here though; the jounin were the ones that voted in a Hokage. They needed to know him, to see him in their space, acting as one of them.

Dog sans his mutts appears in front of him a couple hours later. "An older genin. Yakushi Kabuto."

Itachi frowned. "My thanks." He shook Dog's hand and headed off to access the genin's records. They were singularly unimpressive and yet unnerving. The boy had been with Konoha for years, graduating from the Academy a year after Itachi. He was only vaguely familiar. Mostly lower ranking missions. And yet there were strange gaps between his stays in the village, long months where strings of D-rank missions out of town were mentioned, but they felt off to Itachi, especially after he went to look at their details. They were in backwater places or in places with large populations, where gathering details of the mission later would be difficult.

Rat. But whose rat?

This didn't stink of ANBU—that required chuunin at the minimum, and Kabuto didn't seem ready to be promoted. So, either he was part of Konoha's regular Intel ranks, or he was a personal spy for someone high up in the hierarchy with the leverage necessary to insert convenient missions into the churn of bureaucracy.

To eliminate one possibility, he wandered over to the Intelligence Division's headquarters. He asked if Ibiki's second had time for a word (he had learned during his stint as the Sandaime's assistant _not_ to go talk to Ibiki-san), and was told the man was out for the afternoon. Instead, he wandered through town and made a stop at the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

The daughter, Ino, was minding the counter. She was bold as usual, asking blatantly where his brother was and flirting carefully, keeping her options open. It had always struck Itachi how much girls seemed to gravitate towards him and his younger kinsmen despite (or perhaps because of) their poisonous village reputations.

She readily admitted that her father was in the back once he picked out a bouquet for his mother and went to get him with a sway in her hips and a wink when Itachi asked. She was a little less blatant when she returned with her father.

Inoichi's face was carefully neutral and he accepted Itachi's handshake nicely enough. When Itachi side-eyed Ino, she obligingly wandered into the back "to check on the stock", though Itachi didn't doubt she'd find some way to listen in.

"Is Yakushi Kabuto one of your division's people?" Itachi asked bluntly.

The Yamanaka frowned. "Kabuto… The name doesn't ring a bell. Why?"

"Time gaps out of the village. His scent in a place it shouldn't be. He's somebody's."

That frown deepened. "I'll check, but I don't think he's ours."

"ANBU's?"

Inoichi shrugged. "I don't have ready access to their records. You'll have to ask them. Are you going to trace the paper trail, or would you rather I do it?"

"The Hokage has me chasing something else at the moment, unfortunately. It's related, but there are a few other areas I have better clearance to look into. Your people are better equipped, besides."

"Should I be interrogating him?"

It was Itachi's turn to frown. "Possibly. His scent showed up alongside Orochimaru's in a restricted area that neither had overt permission to access."

"If he's Orochimaru's and he is getting covered by a paper trail, that would mean a traitor." Inoichi's voice was very low.

Itachi nodded, grim. "Or he's playing both teams."

Inoichi grimaced.

Scooping up the bouquet, Itachi nodded to the Yamanaka and made for the door.

His mother smirked at him when he got home and presented her with the zinnias. "I wondered when you would come to ask me."

He paused for a moment before resisting the urge to groan.

His mother, sharp as ever, correctly interpreted the lack of reaction. Her smirk morphed into an exasperated frown. "Uzumaki Kushina was one of my friends."

"Of course."

"Hmm." She narrowed her eyes at him and turned to put the flowers in water. "I had thought that perhaps you were trying to show that you could get things done without my aid."

He wisely stayed silent.

"Loyalty." She adjusted the bouquet slightly before setting the grey vase on the windowsill. "I was not a close friend, especially not later on in life—we grew apart as tensions rose. When we were very young, I slept over at her house a few times. Her parents told stories very well.

"Death curses on the masks. We were warned in tales, not that any of us were irreligious enough to desecrate their temple. A mask is missing?"

He nodded.

"Why are you investigating this?"

"I think the boy took it."

"Kushina's son." Mikoto pursed her lips. "Is he not dead because he is an Uzumaki, or is it for some other reason?"

Itachi just exhaled softly. "The only lead I have is what is missing from the archives and Tsunade-sama's mention of the Shiki Fūjin seal, which I can find no mention of. Uzumaki scrolls have been taken. Orochimaru might be involved."

Now his mother narrowed her eyes. "Interested in the major clans… Our eyes, Senju's strength, and Uzumaki's seals? Uzumaki is an offshoot of Senju, of course. The branching occurred long ago, but it is remembered." She shook her head. "Uzumaki seals were potent, and their best warriors were clever. Those fuuinjutsu were at least as effective as hand-seal jutsu in combat."

"Which led to their downfall."

She nodded. "I can see Orochimaru being fascinated. He interviewed many clans, attempting to learn of their family jutsu, when he was still one of us."

"What do you know about Yakushi Kabuto?"

She blinked, taken aback by the apparent non sequitur. She settled at the table as she studied her hands, a gesture that he knew meant she was trying to call up information.

"Konoha genin. E and D-rank missions for the most part. Nowhere near ready for promotion. Has been out of the village for long periods."

"You suspect him of being on other missions then?" She traced her thumbnail with the other for a few moments before meeting his eyes again. "He was found at a battle site according to gossip. Adopted by one of our medics. Unremarkable, as you say, but sometimes, people catch him looking smug. Most assume it's arrogance about his medic skills. He is well trained enough to be promoted purely as a medic, but he won't do it. His entire squad is somewhat older. His jounin sensei is not particularly competent and has been accused behind his back of losing his nerve, part of why he seems to get his genin 'soft' missions so often, or so they say."

Itachi had always wondered if his mother was just that good or if Intel was capable of such detail from so little and he didn't know simply because he wasn't trusted and high enough to call upon them whenever he wanted. He supposed he would find out soon.

"Do you want me to dig more?"

He quirked a half-smile at his mother. "Don't you have enough on your plate?"

"If this is for the Hokage"—and her expression told him she knew it was—"then it's important. You've already tipped off Intel?"

He nodded.

"Ibiki?"

"Inoichi."

She smirked. "I'll be subtle. The scrolls are the end goal?"

"Why the boy was in Konoha and took a mask when he implied to my face he wanted as far away from here as possible."

Mikoto frowned. "Your instincts aren't telling you this is a useless side quest?"

"Is anything Orochimaru stuck his fingers in a side quest?"

"True. No known connection between the boy and Orochimaru though."

"Except these Uzumaki scrolls."

She smiled at him fondly. "Be nice to Tsunade-sama."

He kissed her cheek before heading to the door to request a meeting with the woman to report his current findings. "The Hokage is perfectly able to blast me through a wall if I offend her."

"Only if you feel guilty enough to let her, and don't think she doesn't know it!" she called after him.

* * *

"Orochimaru…" Tsunade-sama looked anything but pleased after Itachi had finished his verbal report. "I wonder."

Itachi stayed quiet. He would prod for answers if he had to, but best to let the silence try to force it out of her first.

It eventually worked. "We never made it common knowledge, but there was a strange seal on Sarutobi's corpse. It was obvious the poison and blood loss were the cause of death, so we only did a cursory investigation. Can you guess what the seal was?"

He frowned. "The one you mentioned recently was the Shiki Fūjin, so that would be my guess."

"That's right. One of the examiners had seen the Yondaime's corpse, so he was able to identify it. He said the Sandaime had been the one to identify it for him. He wasn't cleared for any further knowledge, and he didn't know where to go looking for more.

"I ended up asking Jiraiya. He told me it was an Uzumaki seal, one only used as a last resort, but he couldn't tell me much about what it did or whether it had been used successfully or not, since invoking it is enough to put it into effect. He went looking into it, with my permission. He looked in that drawer, going through the scrolls, some of which you say are missing, and told me the seal bound the target's 'soul' with the user's and put them in the Shinigami's stomach."

Several things suddenly made sense all at once. "The Yondaime used this seal on the Kyuubi, didn't he?"

She nodded, realization beginning to bloom on her face as well.

"Did Jiraiya-sama know how to release the seal?"

She shook her head. "If the Uzumaki knew, they didn't write it down, not even in their most sacred scrolls. No Uzumaki apparently spread it around. And that's assuming they knew at all."

Itachi shook his head. "A seal with a cost that high would be perilous to test, but every technique has a weakness. Have you ever seen the Uzumaki masks?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"They're not pretty. They look like demons. Perhaps like a death god."

"You're saying you think the brat is pursuing a way to break the Shiki Fūjin seal."

"It's a leap, but if we accept that the Yondaime spoke with Yuji while he was unlocking the Kyuubi's seal, it's not as great a stretch as it might otherwise be. He was the one that used the seal first. Uzumaki Kushina taught him a lot of her people's craft—she may have trusted him with the unsealing mechanism as well. If it can be done, then that means the portion of the Kyuubi the Yondaime took with him will be set loose." Itachi drummed his fingers on his thigh, worried. "That portion of Kyuubi will be free. Would it have consciousness and will?" he mused aloud.

Tsunade-sama scowled. "No one has ever split a bijuu to my knowledge before. Best to assume the worst though."

"Then a whole separate entity of Kyuubi could soon be free, roaming the land, if Yuji succeeds. There is no guarantee that Yuji will attempt to or successfully bind that half to his will. And whatever else is sealed away would also be free. Sandaime-sama's soul shall be released… But what if he did manage to seal some portion of Orochimaru? What if that was why the attack cut off so suddenly and he has not been seen since?"

She leaned back her chair, considering him. "He has been seen since, recently. With the Sharingan."

Itachi struggled not to seize up in horror. They had never managed to recover his two kinsmen.

"It was a brief sighting, so we have nothing more than that. But he still had his usual eyes behind the Sharingan. We aren't sure what that means."

"Was this information presented to my clan?" He was not as in the loop as he had once been. The Uchiha were not altogether pleased that he had seen fit to move into an apartment _outside_ the compound (and nonplussed that he had been _allowed_ to do so). Shisui had followed his example to provide solidarity, but Itachi had not yet recovered the Uchiha's full trust, though his mother was usually good at passing along what she deemed he needed to know. Had this not qualified for some reason?

"There are teams trying to find him to confirm that he really has the eyes. In transplants, it's not possible to shut the eye off, so we aren't sure it's more than an illusion."

"It could be an illusion either way," he said. "Wouldn't you warn us of the worst?"

"I've told you."

_Oh no…_ "My father or the parents of the kidnapped clansmen would be more appropriate."

"I'm telling you. You pass it along as you see fit."

This was not going to go over well, on multiple fronts. His father would not be pleased. "Are you certain? Respect for Uchiha Fugaku would suggest that the message be placed in his hands."

A smirk curled the corners of her lips ever so slightly. "You deal with it. Politics and pleasantries are more your area of expertise, obviously."

He stared at her, aghast at how blasé she was being while tearing the Uchiha hierarchy to shreds.

She straightened and pulled a binder towards herself. "Your speculation seems to be heading in the right direction." She flipped through the pages until she paused and spun the binder so he could study the words and sketches from the hunters' latest report. Yuji had left behind a charred seal with residual chakra left in it, indicating just how quickly he had abandoned the site. Dog–51 reported the reek of death around a curved dent, possibly where something like a bowl had been put down. That had to be the mask. The commentary on the wards read like a confirmation, especially the spiritual containment focus.

Yuji was being careful, at least when it came to bottling up whatever spirits had been sealed in with him.

What would he do with them afterwards though?

A chill suddenly went through him. "If using the seal brings death, would unlocking it do the same?" If Yuji died, half of Kyuubi would go with him, and the purpose intended by the Yondaime, whatever it may have been, would not be fulfilled. And when the Kyuubi came back, it would be free. Itachi was positive that, despite recent events, Yuji was a tempering force upon the bijuu, softening him.

Without Yuji, the rage the boy had spoken of would be unleashed.

"We can't let Yuji die. The fox accepts him as a partner, the only human he ever has, apparently. Without him and without the Shodaime's power, containing Kyuubi—"

"Would fall to you and Shisui, if you're still around then. It only took, what, about five years for the Sanbi to reappear after the Yondaime Mizukage's death?" Tsunade-sama shrugged. "You said in that old report that the Sharingan can beguile him. That's how the one with Uchiha Obito's eye did it. The boy's death may end the Yondaime Hokage's plans, but we don't know what they were anyway. The boy has been nothing but trouble from the very start: a drain on resources, outright disobedient, and now attacking the Monument. He's planning to do something that will strengthen Kyuubi. It's obvious whose side he's on."

Itachi couldn't argue with any of that.

Tsunade got out of her chair and paced to the window, peering out over Konoha. "I've never liked the kid—not even when we first met—but you've got to admire his stubbornness. He sticks with what he says." There was a tiny smirk on her lips. "He's freer than he should ever have been. Makes you wonder where he gets it from. That mother he's searching for? His biological parents? Kushina and Minato were both stubborn when they wanted to be."

She envied him, Itachi realized with a pang. Yuji had escaped Konoha's clutches, while Tsunade had been dragged back by duty. "He is alone though."

"I suppose. Alone with the kitsune." She sighed. "There's more evidence piling behind your other theory, Root hunting the brat. Danzou won't confirm or deny, of course, not unless it gives him some sort of advantage. If it's true though, he's neatly sabotaged any chance we ever had of bringing the boy to our side. We can't accept him even if he begs now; he's killed too many of 'my' people. It would be different if it were Kyuubi's rampages—Hachibi and Nibi have ransacked Kumo before—but we would have heard about it if it were. That he managed to keep it quiet this long suggests the boy was in charge, otherwise it would have been that confrontation with Gaara all over again."

"Danzou has won then. I doubt he wanted Yuji back; his attitude wouldn't have suited Danzou's purposes, if half the rumours I've picked up are true."

She pursed her lips. "We have to pull Kyuubi out of him. It's expected of us. Kumo is too much a threat with their last jinchuuriki and too irascible. We're the last village acting as a balance as far as we can tell."

"You are Hokage though," Itachi pointed out. "And as you say, we are the last balancing act. Sealing Kyuubi into a new host would destroy that balance. If he has managed to keep the Root teams' deaths quiet, who'll know if Danzou won't confirm?"

"You have a point, underhanded as it is."

"Also, by releasing Nibi, despite how short-lived its freedom was, Yuji has in a way claimed responsibility for the beast. He acted without our intervention. Would forcing him to claim Hachibi as well be such a stretch?" Itachi kept the concerns about what the bijuu would _do_ when free to himself.

Tsunade huffed a laugh. "Now that would be an interesting battle."

* * *

Yuji panted as he reached the far shore of Lake Eisa, staring back across the water in the direction of Silicon City, which was out of sight.

_That was way too close._

Kurama just huffed.

_You're positive they didn't see us somehow? We've got Hinata, but who knows how many of her kin are on the hunt?_

**_No one is heading our direction and the ill intent is unfocused. That is the most reassurance I can give you._ **

Grimacing, Yuji nodded and began scaling the cliffs that bordered Eisa on this shore. He wasn't even sure they were in Wind Country any longer. Eisa was pretty near the western boarder.

_Straight south this time. I don't know what towns are south of us, but I'm past caring. Fish'll have to be food, and I'm pretty sure I've still got some rice sealed away somewhere. That floating platform will have to be big enough._

**_And if there are storms?_ **

_You had better not make me seasick._

**_And what of the Hyuuga girl?_ **

_What about her?_

**_We have two prisoners now._ **

_And both of them are going to stay prisoners for now. Hinata found us. I can't let her go back and lead them to us now. And I won't kill her; pissing Konoha off more would be sheer idiocy._

**_The Root nin were from Konoha as well. And they were on our trail for the same purpose._ **

Yuji struggled to define his dubious ethics. _She's seeking justice, I think. They were after me for Danzou, who is more interested in advantages and manipulation._

**_Those are flimsy distinctions. Admit it: you feel guilty for my actions and so you let her live._ **

_That's the "justice" part, Ku-man._

**_It was a statue._ **

_And that's why I'm not handing myself over. I feel bad, but not bad enough to go get slapped by Tsunade._

**_Hmph._ **

Chuckling, Yuji launched himself up into the pines, leaping from one to the next to muddy any potential scent trails and to coat himself in the needles' scent while seeking out a stream to walk on. He only had so much Root chakra; he had to use it to throw them off the trail while he still had a stockpile.

_Kinuzu-sama, greatest of seas, don't fail me,_ he prayed.


	24. Chapter 24

The road south of Silicon City did not start out that way. A fairly wide inlet was directly south, which cut inland quite a bit before becoming marshy mudflats. The road thus had to curve quite a ways to the east in order to handle the kind of traffic necessary from Green Harbour and Fair Port. Two of Hatake's ninken, Shiba and Ūhei, had followed the road, one after the other. The remainder of his hounds had scattered into the mud flats with Neji, Shisui, and Hatake, leaving Takashi and Pakkun with orders to speculate as information was relayed back via the radios.

"He'll have headed for water and for distance," Takashi murmured, scanning a full circle before looking back north towards Silicon City. "He would assume we guessed his path since we managed to catch up to him here." The slender pines that surrounded Lake Eisa were a dark smudge to the south and far to the northwest of the greater smudge of the smog of Silicon City. He tuned out the radio chatter, thinking.

Pakkun, who had been muttering in clipped tones on his radio, impatient at being left with him to coordinate, turned back to him. "Shiba caught his scent on the road just now."

"It will be a feint." He was certain.

There was another crackle on his radio. "Pakkun, Rat, come in."

"Rat here," he said, tapping the transmit button.

"This is Akino. We're closing in on Shiba's cart. The jinchuuriki's scent is on it. Neji is close enough to confirm a visual of orange chakra, but it's too small an amount to be a human. Kakashi, Ūhei, Bull, and Shiba are going to close in once Neji arrives."

"Relay to Hatake-san that this is a feint. Analysis suggests he'll have headed onto Lake Eisa from here, likely in a more westerly direction. The southern terrain is too open and there's not as much traffic on the road as I was expecting. He knows better."

"Relaying." Akino repeated his words and paused while listening to Hatake's reply. "He advises you to go with your instincts. He will determine the exact nature of the feint for more information about his methods."

"Affirmative; I shall travel roughly west over the lake, hugging the coast beyond the limits of our current search pattern, until reaching the far shore or locating his trail. I shall send word via a mizu bunshin every half hour with our last known location and to report if we find him. Otherwise, I shall return to this point and head south if I cannot make radio contact."

"Kakashi says to aim for where the road to Green Harbour splits off if you cannot regain contact."

"Copy," he said before turning to Pakkun. "You coming?"

The dog sighed as he began loping southwestward and followed. He ran over the shallows when he reached the water, following the coastline, until he cut straight south, aiming for the southern bank of the inlet.

"Perfume," he called to the dog, "garbage, anything pungent. He'll cover his scent, but he'll head for shore to strike for the Kinuzu eventually. Yuji isn't patient enough to stay away from his goal forever."

He kept scanning the horizon, looking for a silhouette. Yuji could not be more than an hour ahead of him. Granted, that hour could carry him beyond the visible horizon if he had enough speed, but Takashi could hope. Yuji would have hugged the coast just to avoid being spotted—running over open water was horribly visible.

The coastline began to pull away from the water's surface steadily, aiming for the sky. Lowlands and beaches near Silicon pushed up into bluffs as the clicks passed and then became rocky cliffs, spindly young pines clinging to the edges. They followed the semicircular far southern bay until it curved back north only to jackknife back southwest for a long spell. It would curl northwest again very sharply, but that curl was the southernmost point of Lake Eisa. If Yuji was truly impatient, he might have left the water there, so he couldn't skip it.

They were well beyond radio range, but Takashi wasn't worried. Hinata must have been detected somehow, likely by the beast, and seen as a tail that couldn't be lost because of her distance vision. Yuji had to know that Hinata's team would come after her. It had been amazing enough he had managed to snatch her without immediately calling her backup down upon him, but that was poor planning on Hinata's part. She was young yet, impatient. Keeping distance in the chase was hard when the end goal was within your grasp, especially if you were used to being the only one who could detect opponents at a distance.

After a little over three hours, when they were almost level by latitude with Silicon again on the western shore, Pakkun suddenly perked up. "Sewage."

* * *

Neji pushed his worry for his cousin down again and forced himself to focus. Hinata-sama would be fine. She had to be.

He was not particularly close to her, truth be told. She was understood to be useless: too publicly damaged to be heir or advance beyond chuunin, too much a political liability now to be allowed to be truly useful, and obviously not worth enough to bother placing a guard upon.

Having Uchiha Sasuke as a staunch best friend made a guard somewhat unnecessary for other reasons. Uchiha Itachi's younger brother was the darling of the Uchiha Clan, sweet and loyal to his family in a way his older brother wasn't. What Sasuke loved was protected in return.

Sasuke would try very hard to kick the entire team's asses if they came back without Hinata.

He would probably fail—Shisui was the strongest Uchiha by a good margin, and Hatake Kakashi could of course beat his former student—but he would start with Neji. He had cornered Neji and tried to pummel him before, during that period when many had pushed for Neji to be named heir instead of Hanabi-sama.

Focus.

Kakashi-sensei had made him stay back to get clear observations of whatever followed. Three of the hounds had stopped a solitary cart piled with boxes drawn by two oxen. Somewhere among the boxes, there was a glow of yellow and orange chakra, the yellow a faint halo. It was confined to a rectangular area, so it was likely one of the seals the boy favoured.

It was most likely the source of the scent the hounds had picked up on.

Kakashi-sensei spoke some with the incensed and frightened driver, who gestured at the Konoha headband angrily as he spoke. Obviously, he objected to foreign troops interfering with his business.

Kakashi-sensei was his lackadaisical self, the public face of Konoha, and eventually coaxed the man into a good enough humour to huff and jump down to hold his team's reins while Kakashi went to the box and carefully pulled cargo down until the seal was exposed.

Nothing happened.

Kakashi prodded it with a stick and a kunai with no result before stepping back, creating a kage bunshin, and having it lift the box the seal was on free of the wagon. The clone then pried the seal from the box with a kunai.

All went smoothly until the clone's fingers, chakra, touched the seal.

The orange chakra surged forth from the seal, sound accompanying the violent eruption as a kitsune the size of a pony roared and locked its jaws around the bunshin's torso until it burst into smoke. Its nine tails battered the box as the beast snarled at Kakashi, ignoring the panicking oxen and driver as the dogs moved to encircle it.

Suddenly the beast turned its head away from all its attackers, facing northeast, snarling.

There was a gathering of chakra in that direction, a vortex, and it spat out a man.

**"Ah, little man! May my sibling treat you exactly as you deserve!"** And Kyuubi leaped clean over the reeling ninken and the cart and galloped south even as the vortex took the man away only to spit him out about five hundred metres ahead of Kyuubi's path.

The beast juked around him quickly, slashing at him with a prehensile chakra extension that passed right through the man without effect. Immediately afterwards, the vortex went to work again.

Neji studied the phenomenon carefully. It was obviously some sort of space-time jutsu, but the incorporeal nature of the man was some other trick. The man's chakra network had selectively winked out of existence as the chakra arm had passed through him. It had been hard to see, but he was sure it was disappearance in the intersecting volumes, not the chakra arm eclipsing the man's chakra network.

That was odd.

Neji took off at a run in the Kyuubi's wake even as Kakashi and his hounds did, trying to keep close enough to make out details with his Byakugan but far enough away to avoid getting drawn into the fight.

Kyuubi was gathering chakra above its tails even as it ate up the road with every stride. They would be losing much more ground to it if it didn't have to pivot so sharply so often to avoid the orange-masked man popping in and out of existence in its path.

Kyuubi swallowed the collected chakra during one such quick turn and spat out four small, potent blasts ahead in a scatter pattern at waist height just as Orange Mask burst back into existence. One ripped through his chest to no avail, though when it passed, Neji noted that the black robe was burnt away in a circle about twenty centimetres in diameter and the exposed skin was blistered, just as the briefing had said Sasuke had noted.

Despite this, the distance between where Orange Mask appeared and Kyuubi closed slowly but surely, putting Orange Mask within arm's reach once, only for Kyuubi to yank itself away from the grasping fingers by using those prehensile chakra arms like towlines.

"Obito!" Kakashi-sensei shouted as he got within two hundred metres.

Orange Mask spared the jounin a glance that lasted maybe three seconds before the vortex sucked him up again.

Kyuubi was bellowing threats, laughing recklessly, and spitting out those chakra orb attacks (bijuudama, Neji belatedly recalled from his briefing). It was not managing to gain ground from Orange Mask, since the distance closed with every use of the vortex, but it was still on the move, veering east towards the mountains again. How long could it keep this up? What was its goal? It did not seem to be able to defeat Orange Mask. In fact, it seemed to be avoiding looking at its opponent far too much, which was why it was losing ground. Was there some reason not to look? Was the beast vulnerable to Sharingan genjutsu?

**"Foolish Uchiha! Puppet! You are no more Uchiha Madara than I am that pathetic Shukaku. You are a pale shadow, a soul the Shinigami missed, abomination!"**

The next half hour was a blur of study and zigzagging paths as this strange game of tag persisted. Orange Mask blipped in and out of existence, ducking blows from chakra arms and bijuudama now that he had several more burns. Once or twice, he emerged from the vortex with new burns, confirming the theory that the fire source (Nibi?) was in the same location that he used for both abilities (intangibility and the vortex teleportation). The inconsistency of the fire attacks on the other side would need consideration Neji couldn't spare.

Kyuubi managed to time a shot over its shoulder to the moment just as the vortex began sucking Orange Mask up. It blasted his hand, even as the detonation energy was pulled in with him. Orange Mask appeared much further from Kyuubi this time, his sleeve and arm missing up to the elbow, the stump dripping some pale substance. This attack galvanized Kyuubi, which was unfortunate, because it apparently looked the Uchiha in the eye.

And Kyuubi stopped moving.

* * *

Yuji stared at the young buck, whose liquid eyes took him in at the same time, both of them tensed to flee. They had missed their chance to avoid this because Yuji had been in a gully and the buck had been at the top of a rise, thick bushes hiding him from sight below.

He resisted the urge to shout or wave his arms to scare the beast off. Deer weren't creatures he had a lot of experience with, but he had been warned that their fight or flight responses were random. He didn't want to find out the hard way whether a buck could damage a chakra user the way it could a civilian.

Instead, he retreated down the slope. Slowly.

This was as good a spot as any, actually. He prepped carefully. If Zetsu could find him, they could definitely find Nagato, and that was not part of the plan. He crafted a chakra bubble like the one masking his chakra for his work area, fuelled by another Root sucker seal (he was quickly running out of those, and that really worried him), and tracked down two sturdy branches just in case.

Nagato appeared on the ground in a cloud of smoke. His hands weren't bound; Yuji hadn't had time to secure him properly during their escape from Orange Mask. The mental suppression seal and chakra sucker seal were still stuck to his arm.

It had been too long though. Yuji didn't trust them, couldn't. Gripping the boughs tighter, he shifted into a defensive stance, watching the shallow rise and fall of that emaciated ribcage. That gaunt face was pale and clammy, eyes shut, lips chapped. His legs were sticks from disuse.

Yuji didn't trust this frail creature not to strike farther than he could throw him using his two sticks.

**_Don't hesitate, brat!_** Without so much as a by-your-leave, Kurama took the reins and leapt forward, pressing the stick firmly against Nagato's trachea, pushing hard enough to make him hack and wheeze, his creepy eyes flying open as his arms flailed to try to dislodge the obstruction.

Kurama was having none of it, especially when both seals fluttered off Nagato, which they would not have done if they were still effective. Kurama walloped Nagato into unconsciousness with his other impromptu staff, the sound of it against his skull sending the stag on the ridge running.

A chakra arm snatched the fallen seals from the ground while another slapped replacement seals on Nagato's legs. Yuji studied the useless papers, noting where a fingernail had broken the lines by pressing a rip into the inked designs, breaking the pattern.

_Definitely gotta bind his hands and legs this time._

Kurama just grunted, eyes focused on the flutter of the pulse in Nagato's throat. Once they were certain he really was unconscious, Kurama rolled the wasted body over with the sticks before letting Yuji come to the fore and wrap his usual set of restraining seals around Nagato's wrists. Still shaky from the close call, Yuji sacrificed two sets of cloth bandages to bind Nagato's knees and elbows too, just in case the seals failed.

Yuji's attention returned to the ruined seals. _Think there's any chakra in either of these? How would he break the suppressor seal enough to regain control over his hands?_

Kurama took control to sniff and then huffed in disgust. **_Your human nose is pathetic. Is your shield good enough for me to go beyond your skin?_**

_You already did stretchy arms, asshole. Little late for caution. But don't cross the sphere boundary._

Ku-man grunted as he pushed chakra over Yuji's skin, forming the fox's skull and eventually his snout. He snuffled the paper. **_It doesn't carry much of you on it._** A wisp of orange chakra trailed over the lines, seeking. Nothing seemed to be around to be latched on to, chakra to chakra. **_Empty._**

_Shit. Was the rip a distraction, or was it necessary to him sucking the chakra out?_ He barely kept himself from thwacking Nagato over the head again. _That chakra sucking ability is fucking annoying!_

**_We could always incinerate him._ **

Yuji sighed. _If you are gods and I leave the bijuu trapped inside that husk, what's gonna happen with all those gods out of the picture?_

**_The damage is already done: they have all been trapped for decades._ **

_Forgive me for trying to be an optimist about minimizing it and making it fucking difficult for any other crazy Rinnegan wielder to bring back the Juubi after I'm dead._

**_Then how do we keep him secure?_ **

Scowling, Yuji summoned some wire. Being a packrat was kind of a necessity with his living situation. He secured it around Nagato's throat and anchored it on Nagato's wrists and knees so that if he tried to move his arms or legs, he would strangle himself. Yuji's dad had trained him against all sorts of restraints to give him a fighting chance to escape captivity. This particular arrangement was very hard to get out of without being double jointed.

_Okay._ He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his limbs only now shaking from adrenaline. _Okay. Note for the future: do not leave prisoners alone for three days without binding their limbs, even if they look like they couldn't crawl two feet._

**_Then you should do something about that Hyuuga._ **

_Right._ His lips twisted with a grimace as he sent Nagato away, just in case, before summoning Hinata, sticks in hand again.

He relaxed only slightly when he saw she was sprawled, limbs akimbo, within the smoke. If anyone could have gotten the drop on him, it would have been her. He was slightly unnerved by how her fingers were twitching rhythmically and her eye was moving beneath her exposed eyelid though. _Priorities,_ he reminded himself as he set to binding her wrists and ankles before moving on to bandaging her elbows and knees together. He doubted she could suck chakra like a Rinnegan user, but he had had enough close calls for the year.

That done, he gingerly peeled back the patch covering the scarred lid of her other eye. He pulled up the lid to reveal the glistening gouge across her oddly bulging cornea. Since there was no obvious pupil, he couldn't tell if there was other damage or cloudiness.

**_She would not be able to focus with this eye,_** Kurama mused, taking control and moving his face close to watch that lavender-tinged iris flicker, focusing on unseen sights. **_She is very aware for someone under the influence of your suppressor seal._**

_Yeah…_ Yuji took control again, letting the damaged lid fall and pulling up the other. _Definitely seeing something._ Frowning, he pulled back to look at her ticking fingers. There was a pattern here. _What the hell is she doing?_

Kurama took the reins again and leaned close to sniff at her— ** _How does your species survive with this pathetic sense of smell?_** —and pulled down her high collar to observe the clip of her pulse in her throat. **_She is not asleep like the others were._**

_Huh… And how the fuck is that possible?_

**_You are the human here. Her gaze is focused though._ **

_What?_ Yuji couldn't even… _What the hell. On what?_

Ku-man shrugged.

Uneasy, Yuji poked at the seal pressed to her forearm. It had good contact with her skin. It should have had a strong focus.

She should have been conjuring demons to fill the mists.

But he supposed it only made sense; she was his foil, so it was only right that she be strong as well.

_I'll have to take precautions with her._ He took his ink and brush, rolled her over, and exposed the nape of her neck. _If she won't stay caged, she needs a leash._

He painted the framework of the seal in thick ink upon her flesh, first her nape and then—pushing up her shirt and the mesh armour beneath—her belly and back over her chakra coil, and, when it came time for the final bindings, cut open his finger and used blood. The ink and blood flashed yellow briefly as the chakra flooded the marking channels and then faded into her skin.

Or it should have.

_She's using chakra,_ he grumbled, scowling as he inspected his chakra sucker seal, which was pressed to her arm as well. _It should fade all the way, not just go dim. It must be the little I have to leave them so they won't die from chakra exhaustion. What the fuck is she doing with it?_

Kurama laughed. **_A reason to let her live then: so you can discover the loophole. Even if she does escape, she is not very dangerous, and you have leashed her, assuming she does not break out of that as well._**

Yuji huffed. _This prisoner-taking bullshit is a lot of work. Remind me not to bother next time._

**_We could kill both of them._ **

Yuji didn't bother responding as he sent Hinata away and brought back Nagato. _Feeding time. Think he'd swallow unconscious?_

Ku-man gave the mental equivalent of a shrug.

Yuji sighed and pulled the mental suppression seal off, thankful that it was still active after this short period—it reacted to the light brush of Kurama's chakra tendril.

He then poked Nagato in the cheek with a stick until the man regained consciousness, which took over fifteen minutes. Kurama had clocked him pretty hard.

When Nagato tried to move, he almost knocked himself out moving both arms and legs. Kurama's chakra moved over Yuji's chakra sucker seal, but it stayed active even as Nagato managed to move himself back into the arrangement that didn't lead to cutting off his windpipe.

**_Perhaps he no longer has enough stamina to shut your sucker seal down?_ **

_Or he's being smart and waiting until we're not sitting here staring at him,_ Yuji grumbled. _We're not going to be able to hold him for long. Hopefully we'll manage just long enough to get the Shinigami sorted._

**_Doubtful._ **

_Thanks for the vote of confidence, sunshine._ "I was going to give you some roti, but I don't think I'm going to bother now. Your eyes aren't tracking properly: concussion. You'd probably barf it back up and suffocate yourself on the barf if you don't manage to kill yourself with your flailing first. So you get barley tea. Hope there's enough nutrients in it to keep you going for the next three days."

The skeletal bastard glared mutely at him.

"Unless you don't want barley tea? I could just give you water."

That frown deepened.

"Tea it is. Open wide. I'll only touch you with sticks, so if you want to swallow any of this, be good."

* * *

Kakashi felt terror shoot through every limb when Kyuubi stopped moving.

Kyuubi and the boy had warned them repeatedly how dangerous this Uchiha was to Kyuubi. Why else bring Uchiha Itachi in on their side when Kyuubi apparently despised that entire clan?

He and his hounds sprinted to close the gap, devoid of a plan. What was he going to do when he reached the Akatsuki member? The man was obviously injured, but he was a difficult opponent with that intangibility and speed, despite Nibi's attacks on the other side. With Kyuubi as his thrall…

Kakashi opened his Sharingan, glad he had pushed his forehead protector up before messing with the seal. Fingers in a handseal for focus, he targeted that damn mask. He had to disrupt line of sight.

His pace slowed dramatically as the drain began. His legs began to feel rubbery, but the vortex, so damnably similar to the one Orange Mask used in his space-time jutsu, began to suck up the mask, distorting the light around the eyehole.

Kyuubi shook himself belatedly, swung his head to stare at Kakashi with blurry tomoe orbiting those slitted pupils, and dispersed into smoke with a snarling groan.

* * *

Yuji apparently hadn't had enough firsthand experience with the craziness that was the Six Path Sage's power set to be the level of paranoid he should have been as he poured barley tea into Nagato's mouth, standing awkwardly for the best aim while keeping as much distance as possible. Sure, the guy was trussed up like one of Port Mure's whore's S&M acts gone off the deep end (walking in on that had been the result of another whore's prank; he had never forgiven her), but apparently that didn't present much of an impediment when one had some sort of control over pushing and pulling.

Ku-man, on the other hand, had "Constant vigilance!" going on when it came to this particular bastard. A chakra arm shot out of Yuji's back and anchored him to the ground when suddenly a force tried to yank him towards Nagato even as a mechanical arm grew out of Nagato's shoulder and snipped through the wires taut around his throat while another with some sort of glowing canon pointing right at Yuji's head sprang out of the same shoulder.

Kurama definitely wasn't caught by surprise at all, because he just lashed out with another chakra arm wielding one of the sticks to wallop Nagato across the temple again, casual as could be.

"Shit!" Yuji hissed, belatedly dropping the mostly empty bottle. It bounced off Nagato's bare torso, splattering the dregs all over as the mechanical limbs went limp before dissolving back into Nagato's usual form. "Where is this guy getting chakra?"

**_Your seals,_** Ku-man suggested morosely, sending a chakra tendril over the apparently empty seals on Nagato's legs.

"Gods fucking damn it all! Stupid damn chakra sucking abilities!" Yuji kicked a rock and tugged at his hair.

**_Let me incinerate him._ **

Yuji, for the first time, was seriously tempted to let him. If he just stuffed Nagato away, Hinata would be vulnerable since they probably were in the same location for all Yuji knew. He really didn't want her getting ripped to shreds or sucked dry on his watch.

**_Your seals cannot hold him. Ropes will not hold him forever. Knocking him out is only temporary._ **

"Drugs…" Yuji's lips twisted. "There are drugs that would keep him under."

**_You don't know how to use them. We don't have time for this. The diversion is long over. One from Konoha is inspecting the lake's coast. They will find the trail._ **

Yuji clenched his teeth, forcing himself not to give in. _What about how you handled the chakra sucker corpse puppet, where he sucked up a clone and you took him over with your will?_

Kurama paused. **_The idea has merit…_**

_But?_

**_It will take a considerable portion of chakra, most likely. At least a third. We will be vulnerable._ **

_We are anyway._

**_We wouldn't be if you let me make him ashes._ **

"No," Yuji said to the air. "No. We're getting them out. We have to. Get your snout out of your ass about it. You can roast him afterwards."

Ku-man sighed and took over, pressing Yuji's hand against Nagato's skin over his chakra coil. Nagato roused quickly as Kurama's chakra visibly gathered over his flesh threateningly. One moment it was there, and the next it was sinking beneath the skin, sucked away, like water over parched earth, and kept draining the chakra within his system.

It was kind of terrifying; he could feel the loss, the weariness, the weakness. So much of Kurama was gone. He started panicking, obsessing over just how much he could lose before his soul started collapsing.

He swore the walls of the lobby were drooping when the sucking suddenly stopped. Nagato's creepy eyes flicked open, the pupil now a vertical slit within the grey rings.

"Ku-man?" Yuji husked out after reflexively snatching his hand away.

The eyes blinked before the mouth opened sluggishly. "This body…" Whoever was in charge sounded drunk. **"This body… It's so weak. I thought you were pathetic, but this body is worse. It is trying to regenerate itself from my chakra, as though I am food!"** He sounded offended.

Yuji's lips twitched. "So he's taking the 'power source' thing a little more biologically than you're comfortable with, huh?"

Kurama bared Nagato's teeth in a snarl even as the portion of Kurama still inside Yuji mimicked it.

"Other than that, how good a hold do you have on him?"

In answer, Kurama sat Nagato up and flicked Yuji's forehead, which made him snort.

"Cute, dude. So very cute. How about a straight answer? Think you can hold him for the next three days?"

It was entirely weird to see Kurama's not-amused expression on a human face. It didn't quite fit. He flicked Yuji's forehead again. It somehow translated to "Of fucking course, you idiot; what do you take me for?"

"Yeah, okay. How about eating this and drinking this"—Yuji passed over a piece of roti and a bottle of water—"so I can stow him away and hit the road again?"

Kurama snagged the food with a snarl.

Yuji kept his warning to keep an eye on Hinata's weirdness and not to eat or roast her to himself, figuring pushing Kurama's buttons any more wouldn't be very wise. "You'll be able to do the summoning like this, huh? We won't need a Yamanaka."

Mouth stuffed with roti, Kyuubi tilted his head and considered. After swallowing, he said, **"So long as he does not wrest control back from me, yes, I should be able to. I observed the summoning with the Yamanaka, so I know the handseals and the intent required."**

"Always nice to not have to beggar ourselves to get stuff done. Now all we need from them is an Uchiha."

**_Focus. Shinigami, then my brethren._ **

"You need to add escape to the top of that list."

Ku-man sighed in his head.

"You ready to boldly go explore the place I stash people? Make sure I didn't send Hinata off a cliff or something over there?"

Kyuubi in Nagato gave him a patronizing look. **"Knowing your penchant for jumping off them, it would be just like you to do that to her. That or dump her into the ocean."**

Yuji pressed another water bottle and some more roti into Nagato's hands, just in case Ku-man got hungry or decided to feed Hinata to be useful. "Begone, poison-tongued fiend!" And Yuji sent Nagato back in a cloud of smoke.

He took down his barrier, packed up, and took off running again.

* * *

Itachi paced his living room. Better at politics and pleasantries, Tsunade-sama had said. Itachi did not have her confidence. Being involved in the peace talks with Suna and Kumo had been walks in the park compared to this. There were too many personal ties involved this time.

It was as if she were trying to topple the house of cards he and his mother were maintaining to keep his father and the rest of the Uchiha from lashing out. Why hadn't she just requested a meeting with Fugaku and passed the information along herself? Instead, she had passed it to Fugaku's heir—!

Itachi paused, frowning, turning to stare out his kitchen window. Had she really passed the information to him in that capacity?

No, he slowly admitted. No, she hadn't. She had addressed him the entire meeting as a jounin. Never had she changed gears and spoken to him as a representative of the Uchiha.

Something in him ached as he picked up his telephone and dialled.

"Hello?" said his mother.

"Uchiha-san," he said, cringing at the formality, "is Uchiha-sama there?"

There was a significant pause. "No, Fugaku-sama has not yet returned from his duties. Can I take a message?"

"I must request a formal audience with him and others of the Clan that he would have in attendance for the presentation of information regarding the kidnapping of two Uchiha youths during the Oto attack."

"Is it conclusive information?"

"Preliminary findings only."

"Uchiha-sama will be able to receive you at seven o'clock this evening, if that is convenient."

"I will be there then. Thank you."

He had a lot of research to do in the next few hours. He hoped Shizune's helpers knew where the minutes from the previous meetings with the Uchiha on this were.

* * *

Mikoto left her hand on the receiver even after it was safely back in its cradle, taken aback.

She had known this would come, had believed Itachi would reach this milestone, but it was bittersweet. He had to alienate himself, and that was dangerous in this climate. She would not be able to openly help him now.

"Mom?" Sasuke appeared at the end of the hall, looking worried. "Who was that?"

"It was the Hokage's representative. He has information to pass along to us." She let her hand slide off the telephone at last and fully turned to face her younger son. "Sasuke, you are going to become your father's heir."

His eyes widened. "What happened to Nii-san?"

"Your brother is fine. However, your brother is chasing the Hokage title. To give him credibility, to separate him politically from his clan, you will need to take his place as heir. Can you do that for him? Can you be a good leader for our family?"

As he nodded solemnly, eyes filled with guilt mingled with elation, she knew this was just as bittersweet for him after his best friend's ousting from the same role.

* * *

Itachi kept impassive before his father's seething and the two kidnapped Uchiha's parents' horror and grief. At his side, Raidou managed as well, but there was a stiffness to his shoulders that hinted at his offence. Itachi was glad Raidou had agreed to let him do the talking. He was all too used to his clan's bluster. "Information is unfortunately scarce. Orochimaru is an S-ranked criminal, and sightings are difficult to come by."

"But what are you even saying!" shouted one of the fathers. "Is Orochimaru possessing my son? Has he taken his eyes?"

"We simply do not know at this point. This is the first clear sighting we have had, and it was too short. There simply isn't enough information to make any clear deductions. Agents in the area are searching tirelessly for more information. Hopefully, we will have more to offer you soon."

"Where was the sighting?" asked Mikoto, sitting demurely beside his father.

"Earth Country."

"And who made the sighting?"

"I am not at liberty to reveal their identity, but it was a spy placed in a town along the major route between Iwagakure and Earth's border with Grass."

"Not good enough!" snarled one of the mothers, clawed fingers digging into her husband's arm. "Why has it taken so long?"

"Orochimaru is unfortunately quite good at avoiding ninja, even our undercover agents. He generally avoids population centres entirely, which is why it took so long to verify the sighting at all." Itachi decided to toe the line a bit. Tsunade-sama had essentially named him the diplomat for this case. "With this sighting, Konoha finally has a starting point solid enough to feel it is worth asking the Uchiha if they will commit resources to aiding in the search. If any are willing, Konoha would be happy to add them to the teams already covering the area. With the clan's permission, we could also hire Iwa ninja to bring them in as consultants for their familiarity with the terrain."

As expected, the gut reaction to that suggestion was a violent no, but one of the mothers quickly reconsidered. "If that snake has slithered into a crack in the ground, I'll even thank _Iwa-nin_ to find it," she snarled.

"What of Jiraiya-sama?" asked his mother, proving she was not going to spare him any punches if he was going to take this step.

"Jiraiya-sama was diligently following the rumours up until his passing, but they were thin. He had some other projects that unfortunately led to his fall. He was tracing the group that attacked Konoha, called Akatsuki, on top of trying to keep tabs on Orochimaru. Other agents were specifically assigned Orochimaru's operations as their target as well, as was promised during the meeting on April 2nd, two years ago, but they have yielded no true sightings like this one to date. Orochimaru locked down his operation heavily after the strike against Konoha and the kidnappings. We have redirected these agents to the search in the sighting area.

"Shall we agree on contracting, say, two squads from Iwa? There is already one Inuzuka team in the area, but there are two more teams available to be sent out immediately with your forces."

The slight curl at the corner of Mikoto's mouth told him he was being overly generous, but he felt it necessary. It was probably a smack in his father and these clan members' faces to have him on the opposite side of the table when hours ago he had been the heir apparent.

His father nodded with a hint of a sneer. "We will be sending out some of our best. Will Konoha be able to cope with the holes in the Military Police ranks?"

"Konoha can arrange for squads to fill in the gaps."

When they escaped the compound at last, vengeful parents finally focused on something other than their feelings of impotence while Konoha failed to give them a proper target, Raidou clapped him on the shoulder. "Rock and a hard place."

Itachi managed a half smile. "Diplomats don't win. Especially not when they have to tell Tsunade-sama about the concessions and subsequent expenses necessary to salve the hurt the wait caused."

Raidou's laughter followed him over the rooftops towards Admin.

* * *

Yuji ended up spending a few hours in a tiny fishing village making his floating triangular platform a lot bigger, paying bewildered villagers for more airtight casks to use as pontoons and oilcloth and rope to rig the deck. He reinforced it with some more wooden beams painted with pitch—he had found that he really didn't like the way the cloth dipped under his feet. Once he was happy with his now hexagonal platform, he sealed it away again and set off across the waves under the cover of darkness, working south into the wide open sea.

Once the shore was out of sight, he kept going for two more days before summoning his platform for something other than sleeping.

Yuji set up camp on it, which included barrier wards to keep waves from drowning him. He spent more time on his design this time, recreating the spirit ward net pattern he had abandoned days ago and then going over it with a far more critical eye as sunset began approaching. Outside of that, he set up a dampener circle, which he flooded with chakra from yet another Root agent. With luck, this would mask him from Zetsu. He only had seven chakra reservoirs left though. He was probably going to have to become Hinata, which had its own set of problems.

After setting out the mask and sterilizing a very sharp scalpel he had acquired in Silicon City and setting it aside, he dismissed his chakra concealment net and pumped his own chakra into the wards for the second time.

This time, Kurama did not interrupt him before he woke Kushina. The seal keeping her in stasis crumbled, but he didn't wait beyond saluting her as she blinked blearily before scuttling out into the lobby again. He met Kurama's stare for a long moment, many unspoken things sitting between them, but Yuji didn't have the time to act all deep right now. Instead, he forced a grin and a thumbs-up before taking control again and resolutely putting on the mask.

It smelled foul. Cloying. Rank. Rotting flesh and maggots.

His gag reflex was certainly getting a workout this week.

Something very cold slithered up his back. And then the **_presence_** engulfed him with the same impact hitting the ground after toppling from a mountain peak probably would have. His breath left him in a gust tinged with a pained whine.

He was somehow above himself, looking down upon his too long golden hair. It was very hard to remember who he was. Why was he doing this again? There were souls to gather, a flock to shepherd through the mists, and defilers to arrange punishment for since it seemed that Matatabi wasn't returning to service just yet.

**_The cut!_ **

He knew that voice. Both of him. The stronger part was amused to hear it again here. **_And you said you were the greatest of your brethren. And here you are, caught. And I devoured half._**

**_Boy! Cut him open!_ **

**_I have not had so great a meal in many ages, not since before the moon became full._ **

**_Yuji! Gut him!_ **

And Yuji was suddenly enough separate to recall that Kurama had only willingly called him by his name two other times, a very long time ago. His arms weren't responding: the scalpel was beyond his reach and wouldn't cut the **_other_** anyway. But in **_his_** teeth, he somehow knew there was a dagger that could cut souls. Groaning with effort, he took hold of the handle and, forcing himself not to think, drove the point into the flesh and through the muscles just beneath his ribs on his left side. He clenched his teeth and did not look down as he yanked the knife to the right, opening the wound further.

Something, something he couldn't quite see even through the Shinigami's eyes, came out.

And suddenly Yuji was back in his body enough to start screaming as fire blossomed in his abdomen. He instinctively clutched at the spot, only to snatch his fingers back as they too burned.

"Acid," he burbled, warm liquid slurring his tongue now that he had fallen flat, his abdominals not capable of keeping him upright. He removed the mask and touched the liquid numbly, not at all surprised when it stained his raw fingers red. The other was gone now, but he felt like a guttering candle. "Blood." He giggled despite the pain. As blackness tinged his vision, something roared in his ears.

In agony and not long for consciousness, he craned his head just enough to make out a ghostly form condensing into existence like a cloud on a mountain slope: a very angry and very familiar-yet-not fox. Snarling at him.

A couple other foxfires hovered within the wards as his head hit the dirt, but he couldn't really focus. He was so done with the waking world.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could say I've been busy, and it would be very true (moving, getting a new job, and so on), but I doubt you would be inclined to accept it as the reason there has been such a gap between updates.  
> I got stuck.  
> Kurama... It was hard to nail down how would Kurama choose. In the end though, Kurama is Odium.
> 
> (Yes, if you haven't figured it out just from my pen name, I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson nerd.)

Hinata moved the cage of the seal one last turn relative to her consciousness and finally understood the last few turns that would allow her to slip free from this fog. The seal was a maze: to put her in, there had to be a path. Finding it had taken days, but what else had there been to do when she could not even sleep properly? The seal did not allow for a proper REM cycle—the genjutsu seal seemed to limit mental activity to some narrow band; dozing was the best she had been able to manage.

It was torture.

She eked some more chakra from her poor, stretched system, gathering as much as she dared from the baseline she was allowed to keep in her body to stay alive. Then she performed another rotation on the seal net and gasped with the strain as her body distantly ached at the lack of chakra flow. She let herself relax, let the flow go back to normal to feed those starved tissues for a couple minutes. It was hard. She was so very close to the end.

If nothing else, her monumental failure in avoiding Yuji's ambush had forced the importance of patience into her.

* * *

Dog–51 and Monkey followed Ūhei to where Kakashi-senpai was waiting. The landscape around them was newly battle-scarred—charred ground, churned earth—but his team leader was crouched alone at one particular spot, his head bowed. The wiry man turned to greet them as they closed the last few metres, his lone visible eye full of unspoken secrets. "So?"

Dog saluted and said, "We found a charred seal, about twenty metres in diameter. It was very intricate; we made as accurate sketches as we could in our report for Tsunade-sama. Monkey detected trace chakra, indicating that he must have had to abandon it in a hurry. There was an imprint from something with a rounded rim at the centre that smelled of death."

"And those that destroyed your clone?"

"Gone by the time we arrived. I have their scents though." Dog passed over the scent samples he had bagged so Kakashi could try to fix them in his mind, not that his nose was anywhere near as good.

"And I have rudimentary chakra profiles," Monkey said.

Kakashi nodded and gestured at the congealed and slightly crusty white goop on the ground near his feet.

Understanding the unspoken order, Dog knelt, sniffed carefully, and rolled the scent over his tongue before rising to meet his leader's eyes. "A match with one of them."

"Uchiha? Senju?"

Dog shrugged helplessly. "The only Senju I have as a recent scent reference is Tsunade-sama."

"Were you ever presented with anything of her grandfather's?"

Dog shrugged again. "There are probably very faint traces of him in some places in the Mansion and Admin, but not enough to fix the scent firmly."

Kakashi cleared his throat and paused significantly. "What about Tiger–19?"

"I haven't worked closely with him, but I would recognize him." He re-examined the scent of the goop. "It's not a match, but there's a common element to it. Actually, that was the strange thing about the three scents apart from the target's at the seal site: they all shared a common element, but two more so than the third. This one—" he gestured at the goop "—is one of those two. The other and the third were mingled, almost as though they were one scent, but the differences were too acute."

Kakashi looked troubled. "It's unfortunate we're so far from Konoha. I don't know if the team here has a shared sealing repository with the village; I'm sure Intelligence would love to analyze this."

"What is it?" Monkey asked.

"Apparently some equivalent to blood; about an hour ago, some kind of Kyuubi bunshin similar to the ones they used to take down Pain emerged from a seal and battled Orange Mask. Kyuubi managed to blast his arm off before the bunshin dissolved, and this is what dripped from the stump before he disappeared." Kakashi held up a sample bag containing the substance along with a good portion of the ground it had seeped into. "Ūhei, take this to our contact in Silicon and get them to transfer it to Konoha as fast as they can or take part of the sample for immediate analysis here, with the results to be forwarded immediately to Konoha with a request to be redirected to our team as well."

The hound let his handler rig it in a sling on his back and took off.

Kakashi turned back to Dog. "The journal? I need to report this to Tsunade-sama."

Dog tossed it over and went back to analyzing the scene, wandering away to examine the footprints. He could make out Monkey asking questions.

"Where is everyone else, captain?"

"Expanding the search pattern towards Lake Eisa's southern shore and further along the road. Rat and Pakkun are still looking for a landing site; he sounded sure the kid would have run across the water to make us lose his scent. His last messenger clone was almost ten minutes ago. He hasn't found anything definitive yet, but he would know best."

"Like father, like son," she said.

"I'd like you to range further southwest of our current pattern, just in case the father does know his son. You'll be in a good position to meet up with him if the kid does end up striking towards the sea from further west. Stay in range of the hounds maintaining the radio relay so we can update you if need be."

She saluted and took off south, her request to the next hound in the relay for coordinates crackling over the radio.

Dog returned to his captain for orders.

"You might as well go extend the chain, but go over the road along your way to see if you can pick up any of the three. Share your scent samples with the hounds as you go." He passed the bags back to Dog, who tucked them away and turned to begin a stooped lope back to the road, keeping his nose as close to the ground as he was able.

* * *

Itachi's ankles ached; the cushion he had knelt on for the last hour was one of the older, more threadbare ones. He forced himself to stay in seiza, gritting his teeth as the jounin sitting cross-legged to his left shifted and sighed.

Koharu-sama rephrased her counter argument yet again, as though that would somehow make it more likely to sway the Slug Princess. "This is a display of weakness. You have a team out hunting the boy; until he is in custody, we cannot sit at the table with a strong enough position. It is folly!"

Tsunade-sama rolled her eyes and snapped her fan shut before glaring at the assembled advisors. "And I've been telling you that's bullshit." She raked the jounin audience with her eyes, moving past Itachi fairly quickly.

But then she hurled her fan at him, and it would have skewered him as well as any kunai if he hadn't snapped it out of the air.

"Itachi-kun."

He bowed, fingertips to the floor. "Hokage-sama."

"Maybe hearing my words from the mouths of babes will convince our esteemed and wizened ones. Why call a Kage Summit? Why is it not an unacceptable time for us to do so?"

"The threat of Akatsuki has now moved openly against all the major powers: Nibi, Gobi, Sanbi, Ichibi, and Kyuubi, specifically. Each of those was known to belong to one of the Five. Each was attacked. Of them, Konoha managed to defend two: Sanbi and Kyuubi. We are the only nation to successfully keep bijuu out of Akatsuki's hands."

"We are hunting the boy as we speak," Koharu-sama growled. "We cannot stand before the other nations claiming to be in a strong position when the face of our Shodaime is rubble!"

"Akatsuki's Pain deflected the bijuudama into the Shodaime's face. It is rather a sign of our jinchuuriki's defence of our village," Itachi said, the carefully cultivated rumour sliding off his tongue with ease. After all, he had not seen otherwise, having not yet made it back to the village.

Koharu-sama scowled at him just the same.

Tsunade-sama chuckled. "He does that so well, so glibly, for such a young buck, doesn't he? That silver tongue from the talks with Suna and Kumo would do well at the Conclave."

There were some hushed rumblings from the audience, but Itachi heard them just the same. "Uchiha." "Can't trust."

"Itachi-kun, tell me, has your brother stepped into your old role as heir well? He has a lot of catching up to do, what with you being cut from the Clan."

Tsunade's question prompted even louder rumblings as the rumours were confirmed.

Itachi considered his response carefully as he listened to the tone of the room. "Sasuke will do well as Uchiha Fugaku's heir." He didn't dare glance towards the Uchiha jounin in the room, all sitting in a group quite a ways from him. He could feel their glares though.

"Such a doting brother." She turned back to Koharu-sama. "The messages will be going out. I don't expect much from the meeting beyond trading insults, but if nothing else, it will lodge a foot up their asses and get them to formally recognize the threat. Restricting Akatsuki's movements across borders will make it harder for them to finish their collection. We're waiting for word from some neutral sites for confirmation that one is willing to play host. We've approached Iron as the logical choice, given their stance towards ninja, but we've also sent messages to the Southern Islands, Bird, and Tea as nations within range without a native ninja presence."

"Iron favours Earth," Homura-sama grumbled.

"As does Bird," added Danzou.

"And they'll say Tea is basically a satellite state of Fire," Tsunade-sama sniped back. "None of them are ideal. At least the Southern Islands would be warm. Even at this time of year, Iron will have three feet of snow at their lowest elevations.

"As per tradition, an entourage of two is the limit. I want a politico and a fighter. Nara-san is going to be left here with Shizune in my place, with the Council to advise them. I want suggestions for my escort." She rested her cheek on her fist, elbow braced on her knee, as the elders managed the assembled jounin's suggestions.

Itachi's ankles were screaming by the time the debating started to wind down. It was strange to be officially estranged from his mother. He knew that if he had delayed this move, she would have been the first one to suggest him. He wasn't sure going would be helpful or not to his image, but he needed to anyway. He had to be there to shape events into the best possible path.

Suggestions finally stopped. Itachi could see that Koharu-sama was about to call it. He couldn't suggest himself, none of the Uchiha would, so who—?

"I nominate Uchiha Itachi as the politico," rasped a horrifically scarred older woman, who pushed herself to her feet and began strolling towards the Council without invitation. Something about the way she walked was familiar. "He's thrown himself into the fire so wonderfully for this chance, after all. Konoha is so merciful to the Uchiha; it can only catch and shelter one of their discarded heirs, of course." The sarcasm was so thick and rancid that some cringed.

"Kakuho-san!" snapped Homura-sama, glowering at her. "Take your seat!"

She waved away his order with fingers without fingernails, just scarred beds, that had been obviously broken and badly set at some point. "In all my forgotten years of service, I have never seen a more dangerous politico than Uchiha Itachi: a pacifist hypocritical enough to slay the Raikage if need be. And knowing him," her tone curled the pronoun with disdain, "it just might be necessary."

"And are you volunteering yourself for the fighter role, Kakuho-san?" Tsunade drawled.

She made a fluttering courtly bow. "I wouldn't dare be so crass, Hokage-sama. Besides, you and I both know that my guarding abilities are well below par."

Both women smirked at each other, though Tsunade-sama's was not pleasant or friendly.

"Yes, I remember. I welcome your more sensible suggestion."

"Many thanks, Tsunade-sama. I hate to see young talents wasted because of bigotry."

"Or forgetfulness," Homura-sama said.

Kakuho-san flinched. "Yes, of course."

"Return to your seat."

She glared at him, but she did slink back to her cushion.

Itachi wracked his brain, trying to figure out who and why. She wasn't familiar—he would have recognized her for her scars if nothing else. ANBU then—the mask, optional bodysuit, and gloves would have covered her body enough. One of his mother's allies? Not an obvious one or one she spoke of; she had told him of the few that remained, but he didn't doubt she had kept some back. One like Kakuho-san wasn't worth much anyway: the way she had made her suggestion would keep it from being ignored, but it would most likely lose him points with everyone who heard about it or had witnessed it.

Grimacing, Itachi hoped his mother would refrain from working through that woman again.

* * *

Itachi slumped into his couch and eyed his brother, who was staring fixed at the cartoon on the TV. There was something forced about the rapt attention Sasuke was paying it. With a sigh, he flicked his eyes back to the screen and let the blobs of moving colour play in his unfocused sight before he let his lids slide shut and his head tilt back.

After four minutes with the TV the only sound, Sasuke shifted. "Worth it?"

"Heck if I know," Itachi admitted, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

A light punch landed on his shoulder. "Don't know who else I could trust to be in charge."

"You know I can't do anything for the clan now. Anything. I'll lose everything if I show any kind of favouritism."

Sasuke huffed. "It's not favouritism if it's _fair_. Things aren't fair now."

Itachi nodded. "But you know Father; he'll want it to be more than fair to make up for everything."

"Yeah…" The TV noise stopped; Sasuke must have muted it or turned it off, but Itachi didn't try to look. "I'll keep him reasonable. I'll make Mom help."

"And what about everyone else? They're the ones that push behind Father."

Sasuke was quiet for a bit. "I'll talk to them. I'll persuade them."

Itachi snorted. "Good luck with that."

The punch to his shoulder wasn't so soft this time. "Good luck with Konoha."

Itachi grunted.

"Tsunade-sama kick your ass?"

"She's gonna foist the jinchuuriki problem off on me. She's already making me draft communications to Suna about the incursion into their territory. She's also making me figure out where the funds to pay for the Iwa teams for hunting Orochimaru are going to come from and organize hiring them from Iwa."

His brother snorted and slumped to lean against Itachi. "Brown-noser."

"Shut it, you little shit."

A silence grew between them.

Sasuke finally cracked. "Being the conduit between you and Mom because neither of you can pick up the phone is going to suck, isn't it."

Itachi tousled his brother's hair in response. "Sorry."

"Mom said she wasn't behind Kakuho-san, at least not directly."

"What does that mean?"

"That she knows Kakuho-san, and that Kakuho-san is a loose cannon who has never listened to anybody, so whatever she did, she did on her own. Mom said to remind you that a certain Snake was rumoured to have let the Sandaime get poisoned on purpose and that even Mom doesn't know if that rumour is true or not."

Itachi considered that. He and his mother both knew with certainty that the Sandaime had been poisoned in that attack by Suna's assassin and that ANBU agents had in the end taken down the attacker. His mother's odd comments from that time about the agent celebrating were beginning to click. "A loose cannon… She did seem rather unhinged."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and scooped up the remote, flicking the TV's volume back on. "You should hear the rumours. They're saying she strutted and bowed like one of those Shakespearian actors."

"She did. None of the Elders seem to like her. Neither does Tsunade-sama, which makes sense if she is the reason Tsunade was dragged back to Konoha to treat Sandaime-sama." Itachi grimaced as he considered. "Why though?"

"She likes Mom, or at least that's what Mom said. Mom thinks she did it to piss off the higher ups, but also maybe because she thought you'd do well."

"And you? You've got a pretty good idea what's going on now, at least a bit. What do you think?"

Sasuke shrugged, finally turning away from the TV. "These bijuu, they're super powerful, but I listened to Yuji and Kyuubi talking. They're partners, and the sense I'm getting is that they're unusual, that usually the bijuu and host aren't buddies. You guys are hunting him down, them down, because he doesn't want to obey Konoha, but he helped us, even after the way he attacked all those years ago."

Itachi nodded. "He didn't do it to help us, but in the end, that's what he did. From the reports, the corpse puppets were not close to being stopped when Kyuubi stepped in."

"And then he destroyed Shodaime's face."

Itachi grimaced.

"Why? He could have blasted the entire village again."

"And I think he wanted to. Kyuubi hates Konoha, but he hates the Shodaime the most."

"Because he started all this, right? He gathered the bijuu and gave them away."

Itachi arched an eyebrow at Sasuke and smirked. "Lessons already getting to you, huh?"

His brother rolled his eyes. "Gotta know what choice bits of history to bring up in debates, apparently. Anyway, Kyuubi doesn't talk like a dumb beast, not like they make him out to be in the stories about the attack. He's clever and he knows a lot." Sasuke picked at the couch cushion. "We form contracts with summons."

"Yes."

"Kyuubi… sealed away, he's like a slave."

Itachi side-eyed his brother. "He's committed crimes, so it's more like prison with labour detail in providing chakra."

"When you don't die, how long is life in prison supposed to last?"

He considered for a bit. "I suppose when there are signs of remorse?"

His brother nodded, accepting that. "None of that, obviously."

"Obviously."

"But are we supposed to force remorse out of Konoha? Can we even make them feel it?"

"A good question, little brother. A very good question."

* * *

"I hate it when you're right," Monkey shouted across the distance between them as she sprinted over the foothills to join him and Pakkun.

Rat smirked slightly around gasps for breath through his open mouth. Pakkun kept just ahead of him and didn't spare the two humans a glance as he followed the scent trail.

"You would know him best though," she said as she fell into step beside Rat, her tone enough to tell him what expression lay behind the apathetic porcelain. "You trained him."

"And that would be why Kakashi-san lent me Pakkun to chase after my theory."

She snorted. "So modest, Shi-boy. How far behind him do you think we are?"

"Hours maybe. Pakkun discovered signs he stopped in the forest and pulled out Hinata and a man, probably Nagato," Takashi said, spacing his words between very necessary breaths.

"Your stamina isn't what it used to be, huh?"

"You can't talk, Arisa."

She hissed loudly at him before shushing him. "Monkey! Monkey! No names out in the field, or has it really been so very long for you, Mentor-san? Does your genin squad not keep you on your toes enough? Or are you going soft in your old age? I thought I spotted some grey hairs there…"

"Like you can talk."

Pakkun twisted to give them a _look_ over his shoulder. "Are you two siblings? Or squabbling lovers?"

Both of them laughed at the dog. "As if I would let myself live if I were related to Danzou too!" Monkey scoffed. "His mental fortitude for enduring such a relative is commendable, though it is pitiable that he must follow the directives of such a clan head."

Takashi held his peace, too busy breathing and pushing onwards through the burn of his muscles.

"Since he's your boy," Monkey continued in a more subdued tone, "What are we going to do once we do catch up? Kakashi and the rest of the squad are coming, but they're going to be at least an hour behind us unless we get the toads involved."

"Whatever is necessary," he said, but from the way Monkey kept watching him, he knew she saw right through him.

* * *

Takashi sighed as the latest fisherman he had been interviewing nodded and went back to meandering his way home from the local bar for the night. Yuji had definitely been here only a few hours before, but where he had gone… Dragging his palm down his face, he groaned quietly. Hatake was not going to be pleased when he caught up.

Takashi turned to Monkey and said, "Reminds me of home." It was dangerous to speak like this, talking about closed missions was frowned upon, but, with Tenzou, he had to be the adult still, the father. Monkey was from his genin squad. She was trustworthy and his flaws were well known to her, the mind-reading sister he had never wanted.

She turned to him with a dry look he knew from memory more than anything. The starlight and the scattered lanterns weren't enough to illuminate her face to get the full effect. "Your little fishing village?"

He nodded.

"I always wondered what you saw in the place. You were different and unsettled when you came back. You weren't Takashi anymore. That woman, what happened to her? She was this boy's mother, wasn't she? Why haven't you brought her out? Could she be used as emotional blackmail? Why hasn't Tsunade-sama used her?"

That was Yamanaka Arisa in a nutshell: the asker of hard questions when not wearing her ANBU mask. He allowed a corner of his mouth to curl up even as the shadowed wrinkle between her eyes, a frown line, deepened. Gods, they were both getting old.

"I cannot speak for the Godaime. Sandaime-sama was too good to use her. To use her was to admit defeat; he believed in the Will of Fire. Besides, what good was a jinchuuriki that was only as loyal as the leverage you had over him? Do you honestly think that he would've spared Konoha from Kyuubi if we did that to him?"

"It could have been phrased in such a way to promise that we were offering her as his due, an apology."

"And how long would it have stayed that way? A being as sinister as Kyuubi would not have let him interpret it that way. A jinchuuriki with an obvious weakness is too easy to control by anyone who seizes that weakness. How long would my clan head have stood aside and not held her over Yuji's head?"

Monkey nodded. "Makes sense. You must have been so careful to keep her from Danzou though; he wouldn't have hesitated. I didn't know that little tiger cub of yours was capable of hiding something like this. Does Dragon know?"

Takashi shrugged. "Who knows what secrets are in Dragon–1's head? When he retires, Konoha will be lost unless his successor is worthy."

Arisa grinned. "All those snot-nosed Dragons jump to his every finger twitch because of it. But you are mistaken; Dragon–1 is obviously an immortal. He will have no successor."

Takashi felt the tension in his shoulders ease as he smiled. "His gnarled hands tell a different story. I wager he's only a couple years older than the Sannin."

She pursed her lips. "Do you know when he took the post?"

"Before my time."

"Would…" Arisa trailed off, her grin fading slightly. "No, I suppose Snake wouldn't know."

"I don't think she even remembers when she joined," he agreed sombrely. "A retired agent? I hear that Uchiha Mikoto knows a great many secrets she shouldn't."

"And you would have the guts to face down her demure housewife smile to ask?"

He grimaced. "I'd get Tenzou to do it."

She laughed. "Ah, the benefits of having your 'son' be a friend to her son. I see how it is. I should cultivate that cousin of mine, Inoichi's daughter. She's convinced Mikoto-san will be her mother-in-law soon enough, so I could rely on that connection."

He didn't have anything to say to that. Yuji had been too young, and Seiichi had been too dedicated to the mission; neither of them had put him through the young romance wringer.

Arisa smirked at him before she settled into a more sombre mien. "Is Kato Eiko still alive?"

It would be easy enough for her to check; that she had held off was a courtesy he was grateful for. "You know it's better if I don't tell you."

She sighed. "You know, with you, I can't tell without peeking because you'd be just as dramatic protecting her memory as protecting the still-living her." She stared at him hard, but he kept his face blank. "Let's go find a boat. Or a barge? Can't let your boy slip away now that he thinks he's gotten clear."

Takashi smirked.

* * *

Kurama watched the lobby go dark until he was the only source of illumination.

The fires of the boy's consciousness were extinguished. Indeed, the candle of his life was flickering if Kurama were any judge of the extensive damage the Shinigami had mirrored upon the boy's torso. The stomach had been cut open, yes, and was spewing acid, causing terrible internal damage. But that had not been the end of it. The Shinigami's knife had been much longer than the scalpel the boy had meant to use. In the struggle, he had gotten overenthusiastic: he had completely impaled his stomach, going through the abdominal wall, up through the stomach, and out the backside for a ways. The knife's tip had reached the pancreas, liver, duodenum, and blood vessels carrying quite a bit of pressure. Worse, the boy had torn up part of his colon, which was helpfully spewing bacteria and faecal material into the general mess.

Kurama could fix the boy, but he was not sure he would be able to do it before the internal bleeding and acid did more harm than he could counter in time.

He was down a third of his strength, that portion lost to possessing Nagato. A full half of his former might was four seconds from becoming real enough with chakra to finish the evisceration job the boy had started.

And, honestly, it was tempting to just let Yin finish the job. With half of him left on this plane, the scattered remnants of Yang would accrue within Yin in time.

Yuji was not quite as trusting as he pretended though. If he did die, that soul catcher seal would hold them. It was strong, despite how Kurama had tried to let some errors slip through here and there to make sure there was an escape hatch. The boy had been very careful with his second draft, catching them and eyeing Kurama reproachfully for not alerting him. It would hold both Yin and Yang more than long enough for the masking seal to run out of chakra and fail, allowing the mutant Uchiha to find them. The Shinigami's lingering presence was proof enough of that, though the asshole could be sticking around to sate his curiosity and be ready to claim the one that had dared summon and disembowel him.

Yin was still roaring, more a shockwave of malicious chakra than sound waves. Thousandths of a second passed in slow motion from Kurama's perspective.

The lobby began to collapse.

The walls cracked, fragments of the ceiling falling into Kurama's fur.

Blood, bile, acid, and filth flowed up the oesophagus and out between the wide lips of the wound.

The floor lurched, fracturing loudly, making a woman shriek.

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes to darkness on one side and a blinding light on the other. There was almost no light in this place. There was an immense chakra source though. Malevolent orange pulsed through the skeletal man propped up against the wall. Kyuubi's chakra. A small core of purplish chakra was being overwhelmed by the orange, only visible when within the chakra coil, but being diluted out the moment it flowed into the larger circulatory system. From the chakra around and in his eyes, she could guess that they were focused on her.

**"Interesting."**

She kept her mouth shut, feigning that nothing had changed. She could tell she was tightly bound: wires on wrists and ankles, and wrappings around her elbows and knees, possibly wide cloth bandages. Wire she could handle—a quick chakra lance. Bandages would be more difficult.

Assuming she could get a better handle on her chakra.

**"You truly are very extraordinary in your own way, Hyuuga child. He expects it from you, did you know? He unconsciously has named you his Konoha opposite, the spectre of what he could have been if I hadn't spoken to him, persuaded him to go his own way. It seems to fit you, despite your lack of bijuu sealed within. You aren't like every other Konoha-nin we have taken: you've woken up. This one did as well, but he inherited the Sage's powers; it was expected. You…"** He chuckled, and she shivered. **"You are actually half blind. Corneal damage. Why not let that woman Hokage the boy resents so much fix you? More politics? Pride?"**

Sounds were beginning to come to her: the whistle of wind tearing through a narrow space, the drip of water into a pool, and the sort of closed echo that suggested caves to her.

**"We may die here, you know. Well, you and this Uzumaki creature. If the boy dies, you two shall be left here, in this other place. I cannot sense myself; there is a vast gulf between my selves, so the boy must be right: we have shifted planes. I suppose considering how Zetsu did not manage to recover this Uzumaki, it should have been obvious. Those two would manage to track him down no matter where we stashed him so long as he had contact with the earth. The boy got the pattern for this place from the monks, but it was one of the less commonly used patterns. He didn't want his things mingling with whatever they stashed away, or so he said. There is enough food stockpiled in the connecting caverns that you could probably last a few weeks. Beyond that though… I do not think there are more than cracks providing airflow and light. I do not know if you are mighty enough to break the metres of stone open to step free.**

**"Unless… I thought it strange that your entire group managed to reach Silicon ahead of us. We left you far behind in northern Fire, and suddenly you are in western Wind? No. Ninja don't use space-time jutsu very well, so there must have been summoning involved. Given how you went after us immediately after detecting us and the presence of the boy's father, yes, it must have been the toads."** The man holding Kyuubi barked an ugly laugh. **"The boy will be furious that his trust was betrayed. He was just starting to trust Fukasaku. Too predictable too; the boy should have chosen the North Sea instead of the Kinuzu, but he worships it too much. Does your body require water or food? He expects me to feed you."**

The mere mention of food made Hinata realize just how empty her stomach was and how she really needed to pee despite her thirst. She despised herself upon feeling the heat in her cheeks.

**"If you don't say anything, I will not provide anything. It is the boy that wants you kept alive. I would prefer you dead."**

The beast said that so casually that she shivered, which the creature chuckled darkly at. "Why." Her voice sounded so cracked and weak in this space.

**"Do you let an ant that bit your arm live? No, you squish it or sweep it off so violently you break its body. You have irritated me. I can squish you."**

"Why are you talking to this ant?"

There was a longer pause this time. **"To have an audience, I suppose. What god wouldn't want a witness."**

"Yuji is your witness. Without him, you make do with me. He is the only one who can always hear you."

The beast chuckled again and eased to his feet, chakra shoring up the atrophied limbs. He walked over to loom above her. **"Well, your Yondaime did not give me much of a choice in the matter. Do you intend to soil yourself, or will you break and ask for the use of your legs to spare yourself that indignity? It has always amused me that the pelts you create for yourselves actually are made such that they hinder your natural processes."**

She glared at this beast in the emaciated shell pulsing with virulent chakra—a useless gesture, she knew, but she had to express the choking gall somehow. Being talked down to by this creature shouldn't have been any worse than all the Hyuuga elders, her sister, her cousin, or the countless foreign ninja and civilians who recognized her by her eyepatch and sneered when her back was turned, as though that meant she couldn't see them. This creature didn't care about her. It didn't know her, despite how it spoke. It wasn't even really alive, just chakra, but somehow this thing that lived inside Yuji made her sneer openly, lip curling back.

Maybe it was the darkness. She was half blind for real but in the wrong spectrum. There was an anonymity to it.

"If you please," she hissed, her tone twisting the polite words. This really wasn't wise—she knew that—but this creature was so damned condescending.

That dark chuckle again. **"It does not please me. It would actually please me more to witness you fester in your own excrement. It would be a religious experience for your species, I think. You like to hide your shit away, dumping it downwind so you may forget you ever gave something back to the world, poisonous as some of it is. It is rather similar to how you have poisoned chakra. You take it into yourselves, into your bloodline, poisoning it with your intentions and actions through it, and spew it back into the world with your jutsu. Do you have any idea what chakra smells like? Tastes like? You cannot understand what a cesspool your precious village is without those senses. The natural chakra in range of your walls is fetid just from proximity."**

She tested the flow of chakra through her flesh as a spindly finger burning so brightly with chakra it almost blinded her descended towards her forehead. Something in her shivered with terror as tendrils of orange vapour wafted from that finger.

**"I could show you. I could infiltrate your system as I have done to this one. I could change the neurones in charge of interpreting smell—they are underdeveloped in humans anyway—and lace them with my chakra to give you the ability to grasp the scents."** The finger rested on the tip of her nose, the ghostly vapours moving despite how she was just barely breathing now. Something in her was screaming at just this touch. Much too close. **"Yes… I think it would be instructive for you. A curse and a gift all at once. Enlightenment from a god just for you, oh blind one. A miracle to offset your damaged sense, yes?"** He laughed at his own joke as tendrils bled from that finger into her skin and up her nostrils despite her attempts to shake him off.

Frantic as she felt the chakra moving through her system, she shoved what she could gather to pierce the wires on her wrists, shearing through the metal but not the bandages at her elbows before a pressure in her mind stilled her chakra. Horrified, she just shuddered and panted as that dark chuckle sounded inside her head.

Her head began to ache. There was pressure and a sense of expansion.

**"Your brains are interesting, particularly when it comes to smell. The regions are closely tied to memory and emotion, did you know? I suppose you wouldn't. More lost knowledge. Now, don't cry, little human. I have a vested interest in getting you home now. I want to see if you smell what I smell.**

**"And I want to see what you do when you do."**

* * *

Pride made Kurama go through the motions of creating a clone with half of what remained to him as the rest spread through the boy's body, propping up collapsing, dissolving structures. The bunshin poofed into existence, taking on vulpine form just quickly enough snap at the larger, ghostly Yin. Yin took a swipe at the bunshin, claws raking across its snout as it crouched over the boy's dying flesh.

Kurama snarled, baring his teeth, claws digging through the canvas of the platform with ease.

**_Why defend what ensnares you? Are you some loyal_ ** **hound** **_? Can you not see what is inside this abomination's soul?_ **

**_Soul is your realm, not mine. He has my word._ **

**_And since when has a fox's word counted for anything? And in what world would I ever not lie to a ninja?_ **

He hesitated.

**_I have battled his father for the last sixteen years, and here you would keep me from striking the final blow we were denied all those years ago?_ **

He remembered that night. He had tasted freedom after having his free will raped yet again and then Kushina had wrapped him in chains and that yellow asshole had eaten half of him!

Wrath, thick and black, made the bunshin and boy shake.

She was here, helpless. He could make _her_ watch impotently this time as something precious was taken away forever!

Kurama's bunshin slowly grinned at Yin.

"Not so fast!"

Chains shot out of the boy's fallen body, wrapping around Yin, who bellowed, breaking the bunshin's neck at the apparent betrayal. The clone burst into smoke, but still the chains, those damned familiar chains, towed the struggling Yin against the boy's broken form, dragged the chakra within his system.

**"Kushina!"** Kurama roared, scanning the gloomy lobby for any sign of the bitch. **"You'll cease this or I'll let your son die here!"**

The red-haired woman didn't say anything, but the chains that shot out to bind him to the floor were answer enough.

Hatred, pure and all for her, consumed both Yin and Yang.

The chains tightened, and the resonance between what had been parted allowed her to smother them against one another such that they fused as they had once been, one being as they were meant to be, both aspects as one.

Wills and consciousness came together only because of the pure hatred Uzumaki Kushina inspired in him.

The much enlarged fox struggled against the too tight chains as the ghost of the human stepped out of the gloom into the furthest limits of the glow he gave off. There was a wry grin on her face. "At least you can agree on something." She was so transparent, the chains rattling over the stone lobby floor as she walked closer.

Kurama strained to get at her, to break her in his jaws, snarling.

She looked him straight in the eye, just barely with enough colour and opacity remaining for him to make out the violet shade of her irises. "I doubt this makes up for everything, but it's all I could think of. Good bye, Kurama. Tell my son I love him."

And she and her chains were gone.

And he, whole though he was, was now all bound to a promise only half of him had made, in the badly damaged boy's body.

Diminished as the lobby was by the boy's state, Kurama's rampage destroyed entire sections before he descended into the subconsciousness to wreak havoc there, leaving Yuji to languish in the dark as his mind was broken.

What he found in the depths of the basement with senses that had returned with his Yin aspect, was enough to make him stop, slink away, and spend hours pacing the lobby, his chakra flowing over the floor and shooting flames up the stone walls.


	26. Chapter 26

Kurama was at war.

Yin and Yang had been separated for so many years, and, though resonating hatred had brought them back together, there was so much dissonance it threatened to break them back apart. Two sets of very distinct memories. A schism of personality. A schism of values.

Yang had spoken enough about the Sage and told enough stories to waken nostalgia and some shreds of honour remaining to him.

Yin had spent the last years living out his hatred, locked in vicious combat.

He was fighting still, raging against the promises made to the boy and the compromises offered to Konoha and the Uchiha boy.

Yin wanted the world to burn.

But they were on a fragile platform on the ocean. What could he burn?

They had incinerated and smashed the lobby and the basement instead.

Or at least they had until they had found the interloper resting at the very bottom level, watching them quietly as the wall's rubble sank beneath the water.

Kurama had stared.

The interloper had stared back, unembarrassed, immovable.

A stone in a pond.

Kurama shook off the recollection, baring his teeth unconsciously. He had to focus. The Konoha ninja were coming. Half of him was ready to lure them into the spirit net and rip them to pieces, hang the consequences. The other half was almost convinced it was a good plan despite how that half knew the boy's father was in the group.

The boy wouldn't have to know, of course. There was no guarantee the boy would wake after what had been done to his mind, even though his body was whole.

That whole squad could become fleshy, bloody, bony ocean debris. Shark bait.

Tempting.

Kurama paced the deck of the platform, ignoring how the chalk lines of the seals smeared beneath his bare feet. The seals weren't bound to the platform. Instead, there were chakra lines itching on his shoulders, marking the anchor points.

They were coming closer.

That grey dog boy/man was with them, the old student of the Yondaime, the one Kushina had been fond of despite the stick up his ass. One more point in the tally in favour of ripping them all to pieces in front of his unwilling audience.

Another Hyuuga. Inconvenient visual range, those ones. If he was going to spare them, he would have to do it soon.

The boy's chosen father. Yang knew the boy was furious with the man, but not enough so to make it forgivable to squish him. The boy would never bend again if he did kill the man Takashi.

The powerful Uchiha, Shisui, was with them though. That made both halves of him pause. The woman Hokage had sent this one instead of Itachi… There was a tang to him that hinted he had advanced beyond Itachi, at least when it came to his eyes. This Uchiha had _those_ eyes.

Itachi and his brother didn't have them, making them just barely acceptable to let continue breathing.

Shisui… He was dangerous, like Orange Mask.

The rest, he dismissed. No violent hatred among them. Noodle ninja.

He continued to pace.

* * *

Takashi scanned the horizon for any deviations along with everyone else in the squad. He didn't think he would spot anything before Neji did, but it was better to be overly vigilant than to have the overtaxed Hyuuga miss something.

The hounds and Dog–51 kept their noses to the wind, but nothing so far. The winds in this part of the Kinuzu tended to gradually sweep up towards the coastline before splitting around the lower arm of the Fence Mountains. So, unless their quarry was southeast of them, they wouldn't be catching his scent.

He couldn't help but keep glancing at Shisui to make sure he hadn't fallen behind. It was a silly fear, considering what the young man specialized in, but he couldn't help himself. They weren't in a city now; there were no innocent bystanders that might make Yuji hold Kyuubi back.

They ran on.

* * *

It all came down to the the spirit net.

Kurama tried shoving a chakra arm through it, but his chakra was too much tied to his will, his spirit. It couldn't shove through the limits. He tried a simple fireball, one with none of his will in it. It fractured badly, but managed to travel, guttering, about a hundred metres before dissolving completely.

The spirit component of chakra was apparently not allowed to pass out of the barrier unhindered.

Interesting that the boy had managed this. Yes, Yang had overseen this, but the boy had learned very well. He had thought the mistakes would have managed to affect the seal's effectiveness more than this.

Impressive, to break even chakra.

The boy's chakra was supposed to be the key to getting out, but Kurama couldn't touch it without infecting it with his own, as the boy had intended.

Clever.

He tried jumping off the platform.

He managed it without issue; the ward and the bubble seal hiding his chakra signature using Root chakra were both anchored to the boy's shoulders, and so moved with him.

It presented some interesting possibilities, or it would if the bubble seal weren't draining that Root chakra source so quickly.

Once the disguise was lost, would Zetsu find him? Or would salt water prove the solution?

Kurama did not want to find out, but it did not look like he would have a choice unless he was very clever. The boy had mentioned using the Hyuuga girl as a mask. If he left one or two of the Konoha litter alive, he could do the same with them as well; there were some of the suppression seals and sucker seals stashed away somewhere.

* * *

Flickering flames licking the rubble of stone walls greeted him when his eyelids furled back.

He was lying flat on the cracked stone floor. Far above him, the ceiling was visible only because of the lines of fire nibbling at its jagged cracks and gouges through a haze of smoke.

He felt… He rolled his head from side to side very slowly, taking in the panorama without recognition. This place had been broken.

Fire was dangerous, but he did not feel fear.

"So, you are back."

A slitted red eye opened in the smokey shadows before lifting a great height into the air and was joined by a second.

"Half of me wondered if you would ever return. Half of me was worried. Half of me sees that your eyes are still blank. You have not returned, not yet." The weighty sounds of huge pads scuffing the floor echoed in the hall, and the eyes grew larger.

The beast slunk closer until his black nose blotted out everything else. Hot, moist air huffed over him, and cold rushed past as the beast inhaled.

"You are still lost, little boy."

Another rush of warm breath, and he closed his eyes again.

* * *

The boy's body faded away, as though it had never been. Kurama sniffed the spot he had lain upon.

Those eyes, they had been blank.

But they had been brown, not blue.

A strange combination between a snarl and a laugh escaped him.

Very well.

* * *

Takashi's stomach swooped when Neji's stride faltered slightly during the night, noticeable, if only by sound. "I've spotted a large chakra source of the colour Hinata-sama described at the very edge of my vision. South by southwest." He pointed.

* * *

Dragon–1 completed his quarter-day ritual and checked the journal. He, Tsunade-sama, and Itachi had agreed that the jinchuuriki would attempt to contact them and bargain at some point. So far, he had been disappointed, but the moment his brush finished with the final stroke of the key, text bled onto the page.

_Hey,_

_I'm not entirely sure why you've got people chasing me when you have favours you could cash in. Maybe you figure me and Kurama will veto that? You wouldn't be entirely wrong, but it almost stings that you didn't even try._

_But maybe you didn't want to give me any notice. Don't appreciate that, Hag._

_Now, to address the charges you've probably laid against me: Kurama blew up your grandpa's head. Sorry about that. I swear I didn't find out until afterwards. I hope nobody was hurt, but Kurama's been hinting I'm not so lucky there. He really hates your grandpa. And your grandma too, since she was the one that actually trapped him first, but there's no statue of her, so your Shodaime got the brunt of his rage._

_Again, sorry about all that. I would have stopped him if I'd known, but he didn't share. I'd say you got off lightly, considering just how much he hates Konoha, but I know that won't fly._

_What I am wondering is why you want him back so much. You gonna pull him out of me? That will kill me, you know. It's what killed Kushina, my blood mom. She told me. Kurama's too divine to be held in a human and not warp him. Why do you think all those other jinchuuriki died in Nagato's memories? Akatsuki sucked the divinity out of them, and they couldn't handle it, collapsing back to nothing._

_And sending my dad after me; low. Shisui, sure, I get that. Kurama can tell he's got_ that _Sharingan. But my dad? You do know I owe him a sock to the gut. I can't promise he'll come back to you whole and hale if he does manage to catch up with me._

_Now, I've gone and made things a bit more complicated. I went and gutted the Shinigami. Hypocritical of me, I know. But I found some pretty interesting things inside it, along with the other half of Kurama._

Dragon's eyes widened as he read the next few paragraphs and then he scrambled to meet with the Hokage before she set out for Iron.

* * *

Smirking, Kurama snapped the journal shut, deliberately not wiping away the words from her last communication. He might need them.

He pulled up the boy's shirt and pressed chakra into the activation marks for the seal that maintained the appearance the boy considered his real one. For once, the boy's identity issues would be useful. Signs of his possession would destroy the bluff: glowing red eyes would be visible even in the approaching night. He broke off a clone, one the size of an elephant, which yipped with surprise as its weight widened a small rip in the canvas of the platform in a huge tear. It scrambled back from the hole with a baleful look before it stared appraisingly at him.

He looked right.

Good.

Dismissing the rip, he decided that he could let the boy deal with it if he ever actually returned to his vessel. Taking a deep breath, he focused back on the lobby. The flames moved to torches as he worked at the intention. This was not his mind; things did not rearrange themselves to suit him the way they did for the boy, but, with the boy gone, he could do some things.

If they figured out it was just him in here, there was Uchiha Shisui to answer to.

But there had to be bait for the trap.

He had done well enough to fool the Hokage through the journal. Now to see if he could do it in front of three Sharingan and the man the boy thought of as father for just long enough.

He leered.

* * *

Tsunade-sama had been right; Iron had three feet of snow despite it only being late October. Itachi had already known that; he had taken that route to get to where Yuji was waiting on the northern ice sheet to unlock the seal less than two weeks before.

Iron's samurai were courteous but obviously nervous at playing host to representatives of the top five ninja nations. Moments without guards in the periphery were few and far between.

"Jumpy, aren't they?" Raidou joked.

Itachi nodded. "They should be. The peace with Kumo is very fragile. The Tsuchikage is easily offended. And no one is certain what game the Mizukage might be playing."

Tsunade-sama yawned, her heels clacking on the stone floor as she walked slightly ahead and between them. "You are just a ray of sunshine and optimism, Itachi-kun."

"Just making sure the important points are common knowledge, Tsunade-sama."

"You've gotten lippier since you abandoned your clan."

"Hanging from a thread tends to have adverse effects upon one's equilibrium, Hokage-sama."

"You and Kakashi deal with that differently then; he gets more serious as the situation does, whereas you get more sarcastic."

"Kakashi-senpai deals with normalcy in a more interesting fashion than I do."

She snorted. "'Deals' is the wrong word. Your cousin Obito was very like how Kakashi acts now, at least so Jiraiya told me."

"I have few memories of my cousin, unfortunately, but, yes, I do remember him being scolded for being late so often."

Raidou rolled his eyes and scoffed. "He had a big mouth too."

"He was also generous with the elderly," Tsunade-sama said, glancing back over her shoulder.

None of them talked about how reports from Silicon they had received from Dragon–1 indicated mingled Uchiha and Senju DNA in the sample Kakashi had provided. There were few enough unaccounted for Uchiha that Obito was nearly alone on the list of suspects along with Madara.

The matching eye made him the most likely suspect though.

Itachi idly wondered how Kakashi was taking it.

A turn in the hall brought them face to face with the Tsuchikage's group. The old man was floating between the doughy man and the predatory woman.

It was like being regarded by a hunting pack with the smell of blood in the air. Itachi fought with his instincts to keep his muscles loose and relaxed.

"Tsunade-hime."

"Ōnoki-sama."

"Have you heard how much longer the Mizukage is going to keep us waiting?"

"She is due to arrive this afternoon, last I heard."

"And the Raikage?"

"That we are less certain of."

"A never was one for being polite enough to even respect the placement of walls, never mind arrive to meetings he didn't arrange on time."

* * *

**_Wake, boy._ **

He rode on black waves.

**_Wake, Uzumaki Naruto._ **

He slumbered on.

**_Yuji._ **

The feeling of approaching a waterfall began to overtake him.

**_Asura._ **

He tipped over the edge of that waterfall.

* * *

Itachi leaned against the railing, watching intently as the five Kage sized each other up.

Rasa, the Kazekage, wore an expression of deep apathy. The death of his three children had shattered the man, but not in a way that let Suna replace him. Instead of bruising the way the soft metal he manipulated would have, he had compressed and become something too hard. He had no love for Konoha, not when their jinchuuriki was the last person to have engaged with his children before Akatsuki.

Mei was smirking, eyeing her counterparts with definite amusement at the battle lines. Water's isolationist policies in recent years had taken her village off the board, allowing the grudges against her people to become insignificant in comparison to more recent wrongs committed by others. She had no friends here, but she had no clear enemies either. Or she wouldn't, if it weren't for Yagura and the dark stain of Kirigakure's past.

The Tsuchikage was as stubborn as he had always been, and he held firmly to the grudges he had lived long enough to gather. Konoha had wronged him. Suna had wronged him. Kumo had and continued to wrong him by amassing a worrying amount of power. Kiri had wronged him and was suspicious.

A, the Raikage, was as Itachi remembered him: brash, self-righteous, and ignorant or uncaring of how his decisions affected others. Kumo and Lightning would prosper and the rest of the world could go to hell, since they had wronged him and his in the past. His absolute devotion to his village was admirable, but his willingness to destroy everyone else for its benefit was shortsighted. He and his father had both contributed to this pattern of brinksmanship (which hadn't stopped at the brink) and military buildup.

So many grudges. He gritted his teeth, glancing down at his Hokage, who tried to look unaffected by the enemies to all sides. She was too open and honest though, despite the years she had held this post. He could tell that she was regretting calling this meeting, that she really hadn't prepared herself for the realities of meeting all the big players.

Not that he would have been any better off. This was a viper's nest.

Mifune cleared his throat. "You are here today because the Hokage called this meeting. I shall act as your moderator."

"I shall speak," Rasa said, his voice hoarse. At Mifune's nod, he continued. "I can guess why the Hokage has called us together. I know personally the dangers of the missing ninja group called Akatsuki. Their sleeper agent rose high in my own administration, and no one knew a thing until we found his mark upon my daughter's corpse." He paused to stare each Kage in the eye. "They had taken Shukaku, the bijuu my village took for its own without any help from Konoha's Shodaime." His gaze turned to the Raikage. "They have taken Nibi from you." He turned to Ōnoki. "And Gobi from you." He turned to Tsunade. "And now I hear whispers that they came for Kyuubi when they spared him in favour of Shukaku months before."

"A strange choice, yes, but considering how Konoha's jinchuuriki managed to handle the attempt, as well as the one made upon the unrestrained Sanbi in the North Sea only days earlier, I'm sure there was some logic to their actions," she said.

"A strange choice that your jinchuuriki was in a position to assist Sanbi and yet left Ichibi exposed."

"Konoha did not suspect a sleeper agent or that he would be activated on such a routine mission. But then, he didn't interfere with the capture of the Shichibi, Gobi, Nibi, or Rokubi either, and yet, they are all taken just as neatly as the Ichibi."

"More so. They were not battling another jinchuuriki just before the strike."

Itachi forced himself to stop grinding his teeth, even if it was helping to keep him from speaking up. He had known this would happen; Yuji's battle with Gaara was very hard to explain away.

She managed though. "Considering that your jinchuuriki struck at him when they faced each other to talk, starting the battle you speak of, it's hardly surprising that my jinchuuriki did not stick around to protect him from a threat he had no idea was approaching. At the time, he was only vaguely aware of Shichibi and Gobi having been taken. The threat of Akatsuki was not understood. It is now. They have tried to take from each of us, and succeeded more times than should have ever been allowed without reprisal. They had _five_ of the nine bijuu. And only Konoha and Suna were actively hunting them!

"Iwa was still hiring them as of last month! And my people tell me that they freely cross into Lightning without Kumo stirring to turn them back across the border!" She leaned forward, slapping her palms to the table. "What laxness is this?"

The Raikage glared. "You say they cross my borders? And how would you know without your people doing the same?"

"My people hardly need to cross into your territory when rumours of a zealous Jashinist with a scratched out Yagakure headband are carried back to my lands by your merchants. Hunting black market bounties, apparently."

"So far," A growled, "Akatsuki has proven to be made up of members from every village except Kumo. So it is _your_ shame that is wandering around—!"

"Orochimaru left Akatsuki years ago, so I wouldn't say Konoha has had a hand in Akatsuki's more recent movements," Tsunade drawled.

"Lower level peons from Fire of the group have gone through your courts of law."

Itachi struggled to try to recall information that corroborated that. That rang some bells… Ah, there was some lawyer woman in the Red City that kept causing Konoha grief. She had spearheaded a multi-plaintiff lawsuit after Kyuubi's battle against Nibi on Mount Bousui. That she had worked as a prosecutor on cases against Akatsuki members wouldn't surprise him.

"I trust none of you! I have nothing further to say to any of you!" The Raikage made to stand, but Tsunade spoke.

"If you have nothing further to say, then you cannot object if my jinchuuriki claims the Nibi for his own."

The room went utterly silent for just a moment.

Then A roared. "What?"

"It is commonly understood that it is shameful for a village to lose their jinchuuriki, their bijuu. That village must save face by getting it back themselves. But if my jinchuuriki gets your bijuu before you do, well, Kumo should have nothing to say to that, correct?" She leaned back in her chair, inspecting her fingernails. "My jinchuuriki discovered that Akatsuki has no intention of creating jinchuuriki with the bijuu. They are collecting them, all of them, apparently. And putting them together. The Akatsuki member Konan, the paper angel of Rain, was unable to prevent my people from learning that the organization intends to harness the bijuu together and use them to wipe countries off the map.

"This is for preserving peace, or so she believes. There are apparently a number of interesting sites in Wind Country's Fence Mountains that illustrate the tens of megatons of destructive power of a couple of the bijuu. The speculated power of the combined bijuu is over a gigaton, depending on the jutsu the blast is set off with."

Itachi shivered.

"My experts were fairly certain that was enough to rearrange the face of the planet and destroy most if not all life on it." She said that so casually. Itachi almost grinned. "I called this meeting to suggest that perhaps it was time to stop neglecting the _responsibility_ each village with bijuu took on when my grandfather gave them to you in order to level the playing field. Nine godlike sources of chakra, and a ragtag group of _subcontractors_ has managed to steal _five_ from the most powerful ninja on earth without any sort of retribution!" Her voice dropped to a growl. "If you will not protect our world from the forces you were gifted with, then I must take action, as I already have through my jinchuuriki."

And that set them all off.

Itachi worked very hard not to face-palm.

Ōnoki raised a thick white eyebrow. "Is that so? And would you use this same sense of responsibility to justify assisting the Yonbi jinchuuriki with his bijuu?"

"Yonbi's jinchuuriki…" She trailed off, as though considering. "I do believe that my people said he hasn't been seen moving within Earth's borders for a considerable number of years. Is he still beholden to you, or has he been declared missing nin or outcast yet? Perhaps he could use some help."

Ōnoki growled at her.

"But, no, I will only authorize Konoha's interference with the bijuu where Akatsuki is directly involved. Considering their plans, I cannot simply respond with apathy. I called you here to inform you of this and to ask you to consider making Akatsuki's work harder by directly opposing them. I would be glad to spare my ninja the need to act."

"You are overstepping your mandate, Hokage!"

"I am not!" she snarled in return. "You have taken _no_ action. I have evidence from two Akatsuki members that points to these bijuu being used as weapons of mass destruction. It was my grandfather that put them into your hands. If you will not take proper care of them, I must do it instead!"

"And what do you intend to do with them once you have them?" asked Mei.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, her fingers steepled. "I have not yet decided. My village has no need of them; we managed just fine with Kyuubi operating outside the village's walls, and having them within may prove to be too much of a _temptation_ for some factions. Returning them to you would not be sensible unless Akatsuki has been wiped out to its lowliest members. My jinchuuriki may have some ideas; he and Kyuubi have collaborated before to Konoha's benefit."

"Defeating that Akatsuki attack upon your village," Rasa stated.

"Yes, defeating the Rinnegan user and capturing the paper user of the pair that attacked. They also defeated Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand, which reminds me." Tsunade held up a hand, and Raidou approached, presenting her with a scroll. "I believe we inadvertently solved the mystery of what happened to your Sandaime." She gestured that Raidou give the scroll to the Kazekage.

Itachi could see that the two Suna-nin on the balcony with him were quite unhappy at not being called forward as Rasa inspected the scroll. "What is in here?"

"A very distinctive puppet. I had not realized that Suna had gone so far as to make people into puppets until my jinchuuriki presented me with Sasori and his magnum opus."

Rasa looked less than pleased to have all the Kage here to bear witness to his village's secrets. He stared at the scroll for a long time before studying Tsunade with narrowed eyes. Finally, he nodded and tucked the scroll away in his robes. "I would ask that you return Sasori to us. He has much to answer for if what you say is true."

"We can hash out the details of that possibility at a later time," she demurred.

"You simply want us to close our borders and put hits on all Akatsuki members?" Mei asked. "Do you have a list?"

Itachi got beckoned forward this time, and he presented a sheaf of papers to each of the Kage in turn.

"There are some we have yet to identify, as our two sources did not know everyone, but we have found a number of plants because of Sasori, who was apparently the member in charge of that. The remaining top brass include Hidan, the Jashinist; Kakuzu, a former Taki-nin; Hoshigaki Kisame; Zetsu, a dual plant being; Orochimaru, though he left the group; and Mitani, whom we haven't been able to identify further because of his mask. Deidara, Sasori, Nagato, and Konan have been dealt with. The true leader of the group, a man wearing an orange mask, calling himself Tobi, has the highest priority. We have reason to believe he is either an Uchiha or has managed to steal the eye of a deceased Uchiha. He has called himself Uchiha Madara as well—" she kept talking over the gasps "—but we have had a fairly reliable source refute that. If you would care to verify that as well if you encounter him, Tsuchikage-sama, that would be appreciated."

Ōnoki huffed but nodded, flipping through the rest of the pages. "What's this? I recognize this man—silver hair and those round glasses," he said. "The one you call Kabuto, he looks exactly like a genin of mine that went missing years ago. Page eighteen."

The other Kage all flipped to that page as well. "I recognize him too," growled A. "He looks like a young genin from years ago that went missing."

"One of Sasori's spies?" Mei asked, reading through the notes.

"Apparently," Tsunade said, grimacing. "He's currently being detained in my village."

A scoffed and stabbed a finger at a paragraph. "It seems he managed to stay in your village for many years undetected. Is Konoha's security so lax?"

"Kumo hardly escaped his incursion either, apparently," Tsunade said. "As you are all still processing, shall we start with small steps? Do we all agree not to hire Akatsuki?"

Even that small step was only accomplished after considerable griping from the Tsuchikage accompanied by plenty of finger-pointing at Kumo's growth.

Attempts to come to further agreement than that were mostly stymied by outraged protests to Tsunade's threat to capture all of the bijuu back before they could. The Raikage in particular was ferocious, threatening force if she dared to lay claim to Nibi.

Her response was clear: "If you want your cat back, start hunting Akatsuki yourself. Your progress over the last two months has been disappointing if you are as offended as you claim. My people have taken out four of Akatsuki's ten already. How many has your village managed, with your superior forces and unoccupied attack power?" Over the Tsuchikage's amused snort, she continued. "I will order my people not to compete with your attempts, if you think it will help. If your forces show up, my people will bow out and leave you to reclaim your kitty."

The Tsuchikage barked a laugh, but the Kazekage was stone in the face of all this banter. "And if my people reclaim the Ichibi, which has always been Suna's?"

"Of course, I promise the same, to all of you. If you manage to arrive to reclaim your bijuu at the same time, my people will leave it to yours to take it back. If we beat you though, that is a different matter." She spent a few moments looking each of them in the eye, even the fuming Raikage, who had slammed his arm through the table top during her little challenge. "Mifune-dono, I thank you for hosting us this day. You are all that is gracious and patient, as expected of the greatest of samurai. My fellow Kage, unless we have other business to address, that covers everything I wished to share with you at this summit. Were there any other matters of business?"

Itachi had expected the roar from the Raikage's corner, the snark from the Tsuchikage, and the dry spite from the Kazekage. The meeting raged on for quite a while, many attempts to make Tsunade recant on Konoha's ultimatum worked in, but she weathered them. The Raikage announced an intent to bring Hidden Frost into an official contract with Kumo, sneering triumphantly at her. That was disquieting, but it was nothing that hadn't been suspected anyway during the long war. Kumo's forces certainly hadn't been crossing the Mirror Gulf to fight Konoha on Hot Spring's border with Fire.

This direction from the Yondaime Raikage wasn't surprising. If things weren't going his way, he was prone to responding like a child, throwing temper tantrums and stones. That he had the power to back up these childish reactions was disturbing though. Itachi resolved to watch the situation carefully and see how the bijuu fiasco played out. If the Raikage continued on his threatening path, well, Itachi might have to take action, so long as he could get it sanctioned. Or might have to cash in that one favour from Yuji he had saved for himself if he couldn't.

* * *

The sound of the waves smacking against the pontoons danced across his consciousness. It was an almost rhythmic sound, but there was a little too much randomness for it to truly have a consistent beat. That lack of pattern irritated him. He kept expecting the next beat in the song, but it would be early or late or, worse, two beats at a time, syncopated.

His brow began to furrow.

**"Wake up."** That voice rumbled out of the mound he was curled into, familiar yet not. There was a new element to it, an edge. Warm amusement now mingled with wariness and wrath.

"Mm up," he groaned. "Dun wanna be, but 'iyam. Happy?"

**"No."**

"Dun be sucha sourpuss, Ku-man," he slurred, and his danger sense abruptly shrieked. He instinctively rolled to one side, coming up in a crouch, his eyes wide, one arm raised defensively while the other dug for the flat blade strapped to the small of his back. And then his foot slipped, and he was up to his knee in seawater.

Yelping, he braced himself and pulled his leg out of the giant hole in the canvas and found a better spot for his foot. His brain caught up with his eyes, and he realized he was reacting to a Kurama clone the size of a draft horse, one now crouched with its hackles raised at him. Shock blasted him along with the adrenaline. This was the seal opening all over again.

"Kurama…" he said carefully, his eyes never leaving the clone's, though that wasn't the right target. Kurama was inside him; Yuji could still feel him there, larger than ever, straining-the-stitches large. This was the manifestation Kurama had chosen though, so these were the eyes this newly complete Kurama wanted him to meet.

To meet…

Oh.

Shit.

Last night blasted him, the Yin Kurama coming at him as the void sucked him under with the pain.

Kurama inside him was bigger, so that meant that the halves had come together inside him, but was this clone just Yin? It had physical presence though… Could Yin chakra do that? Yang was the physical; Yin was the spiritual. Could Yin manifest so solidly?

No, this was both. There was a warmth there. Yang was there.

And he was still breathing.

Yuji straightened up and let his hands fall to his sides. Holding the bunshin's gaze, he bowed formally. "It is an honour to meet you, Kurama, son of the Six Paths Sage, Ninth."

The fox looked a little taken aback while at the same time looking unsurprised. Yuji felt a moment of sympathy: to be split into two separate entities and suddenly put back together, there had to be serious dissonance, especially since Yin Kurama's last sight of him had been of a babe in Kushina's arms.

"I am also honoured to be the first to welcome you entirely back to the waking world. Your absence from it was too long. I am glad you are whole again."

Kurama studied him, both inside and out, before settling back on his haunches. **"You are sincere."**

Yuji cracked a smile at him, a fragile one. "You're my friend. Of course I'm glad you're okay. I'm really glad I got to right the wrong my blood parents did to you. I offer my deepest apologies for the suffering my blood father brought to you in the Shinigami's stomach."

The fox cocked its head slightly, doglike in his confusion. It was a little ridiculous to see such an endearing pose held by something way too big. **"You are sincere. You claim me as friend."** The beast shook his head rapidly, as though shaking off water, the motion moving down his body until he was on all fours again, wriggling his hindquarters, before all nine tails waved and flicked, not quite in sync.

Yuji's smile sprouted into a grin.

**"Yuji. Uzumaki Naruto. Katsuo. Kumiko. Miri. Tsutomu. Daisuke. Hikaru. Jun. Mamoru. Kevin. Raj. Sirena. Freya."** The fox's jaw opened and he panted a bit, his version of a fox laugh. **"Boy."** That good humour died. **"Your vessel is very full."**

He frowned. "Is Kushina still around? Namikaze is gone, Gerotora is back with the toads, you're all here, but I don't think you meant you."

**"You recall what I talked about before Silicon City, about the Sage's sons."**

"Yeah, that they reincarnated."

**"I did not say that. I tossed the word out there to aid your comprehension of the idea, though reincarnation is not quite correct. They are avoiding that natural process. Anyone trapped within the Shinigami's stomach is also kept from reaching the Pure Lands and reincarnating. No, what the brothers do is a perversion. They are parasites. They incarnate by attachment to a vessel's proper essence, the true soul going through reincarnation."**

Yuji suddenly felt very cold and very exposed. "Which one?" he whispered.

**"Asura, the younger. You have his chakra."**

Oh _fuck_. His stomach hit the canvas beneath his feet with a wet smack. He was almost convinced it was literally. "I'm still alive." He gave just enough breath to the words as his mouth shaped them that they qualified as spoken rather than mouthed.

The kitsune grinned the horrifying grin so full of teeth at him both inside and on the bunshin. **_"Yes."_**

Yuji just breathed, the air cold in his trachea. Stiffness lingered in the muscles just under the front of his ribcage, so newly whole. "Why?"

**"Because you have deviated far enough from the path Asura has always preferred. If you went to Konoha, that would be Asura's path. If you sought comrades in battle to force your will upon the renegades, if you sought power through hard work for the sake of competition or authority, and if you sought dominion over the comrades you gathered for whatever reason, all of those are the essence of Asura and those that have carried him before you in your line. Instead, you walked away from the violent use of chakra. You have killed, yes, but you killed with your hands, never with chakra. You use chakra as easily as breathing for many things, but you have used it for communion as the Sage intended in Wind Temple. You have come far enough that you are still alive."**

"Am I gonna stay that way?"

**"Boy."** Kurama chuckled. **"You are unique. It is only right as my vessel that you correct what Asura destroyed."**

With a sinking feeling, Yuji kept going. "And how far do I have to get? What about my ship, my crew?"

**"As I have said before, you are recently sixteen. What ship's captain is sixteen? You have a few years yet before your dream becomes overdue. As for how much I expect, well, with my blessing, you shall live a long life, and without the ninja, no one shall end it prematurely to rip me from you. It is in your best interest to succeed before the ninja do."**

Shit. "The ninja are not my problem. I just want my ship and my mom."

Kurama's good humour dimmed slightly. **"You agreed to attempt that prophecy before we discovered Nagato's suitability to be the actor as well. The prophecy goes two ways: to save or destroy the ninja world. What the Sage intended is well within the prophecy's mandate."**

Fuck. The concept was fucking overwhelming, like a wave blotting out the raging sky. "You want me to take all these bloody ninja in the world and make them into pansies."

The kitsune, alien to him now, barked a laugh. **"Pansies? No, nothing so floral. You shall end the use of chakra in a military context. You shall end ninjutsu."**

"Oh, is that all?" He started pacing, but it wasn't enough, hemmed in as he was by his wards, which were still very active. "That's the work of generations, Ku-man! One shitty cowardly cop-out of a ninja cum disinterested monk cum bijuu vessel is not going to get all that done. Heck, even that clan, what's-it-called, has been opposing ninja since Konoha was proposed to the Fire Lord if Jiraiya wasn't kidding and hasn't gotten anywhere!"

Kurama drew himself up, looking very regal all of a sudden. **"It only took** ** _one_** **generation to ruin ninshū. You are** ** _my_** **vessel. You have** ** _me_** **. We shall right this."** The "or else" went mercifully unsaid, but Yuji shut up because they both knew it was hovering in the wards with them.

Their conversation was put on hold as the camouflage bubble Yuji had put up outside the wards with a Dog's chakra flickered badly. "Fuck! The flow must be compromised somewhere in my design!" He'd have to get Hikmat to look it over. That it had only lasted so long put a serious dent in his self-proclaimed fuuinjutsu journeyman status. "Please tell me the wards actually worked, at least."

**"They are working very well. There are three trapped in here with us."**

"What, really?" He swivelled his head but saw nothing. "Where?"

**"You must need more of my nature to see them. Relax."** Kurama's chakra flowed through his system to pool in his eyes, and suddenly there were _things_ in the sphere of the wards with them. Four things: two larger, whole ones, and two very small ones that somehow seemed to be a joined pair and maybe should have been counted as one thing.

"What the heck?"

**"That one,"** Kurama nodded at the one that was hovering almost protectively between him and the bunshin. **"That is Namikaze. The other, that one is vaguely familiar. I remember the taste of it, though I wasn't often in its presence. During your first days, we two were always with him, but Kushina and Mito's meetings with him were fewer, the Sandaime Hokage."**

"Genie-san? What was he doing in the Shinigami's stomach? I thought Orochimaru murdered him in his bed; that was what the Konoha ninja all said."

**"Apparently not."**

"What are those things then?"

**"If Orochimaru was supposed to be the last person with him, then they must be part of him. I came into contact with him maybe twice while in Kushina, and a couple more times within Mito; the signature seems to match my recollection of it. Hands."**

"Hands?"

**"What they are; the pair is the part of the soul that is the hands."**

"Hands have soul?"

**"Humans are very much defined by their hands in many cases. You move forward through the work of your hands. Chakra is often shaped by handseals. This must have been a parting shot, to take a human's hands."**

"What would it do to you, to have your hands' soul taken?"

The bunshin shrugged. **"Nothing good, but I cannot be certain. I have never witnessed the consequences before. It is not something that can happen to me, as a being of chakra and will. I have no soul, per se. Not as you living creatures have one. Death is a dispersal. Reawakening is when enough of my chakra has gathered back together for me to manifest."**

"Huh." The mask bubble flickered again. "Oh, right, shit. Okay, not much time. We need to pack up and make tracks, just in case my mask didn't do a good enough job. Taking down the ward will let these guys move on, right?"

Kurama nodded.

"I don't feel quite right about letting Orochimaru have his hands back, you know? He was part of Akatsuki once, according to the bingo book. Even if we don't know what's happened to him, I'd rather not do him a good turn until we know we should. Sarutobi…" Yuji grimaced and waved a hand. "Whatever. Peace be to him. He's dead." He summoned some ink and paper and began crafting a smaller version of his spirit net. When it was done, he activated it, frowning at how much chakra it took, and glanced warily at the bobbing hands. "You willing to spare a stretchy hand to nab them?"

An orange arm oozed out of his own, virulent orange chakra taking hold of the seal and waving it around like a butterfly net to capture the hands, which could pass into the barrier but not out, same as the big ward. Yuji suppressed a grin at how the hands had made futile attempts to avoid the net and took the seal back from the shrinking stretchy arm. "Thanks." Shoving the seal in his pocket, he began gathering his materials and sending them away with his travel scroll. With a nod at his hovering blood father's ghost, Yuji sat down in the centre of the pattern and pulled back the chakra in the spirit net, taking the time to make sure it was entirely broken down.

**"Don't take down the mask yet."**

Yuji shot Kurama a look. "It's going to break down without my help pretty soon. The chakra must be circulating badly somewhere. I'll need to give it another chakra source. How long has it been?"

**"Long enough."**

"Not helpful, sunshine."

Kurama huffed. **"Long enough for me to deal with a few things, release a few siblings. We are on salt water. What better time to test your theory?"**

Yuji pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "What did you do this time?"

The fox smirked.

"Really, what did you do, Ku-man?" He glanced around suspiciously. "This wasn't ripped before… And suddenly you're all for releasing the bijuu?" He assessed the position of the sun. "Midmorning. That means it's been at least nine hours." Kurama could have gotten into a lot of trouble in nine hours. It had only taken him twenty minutes to burn most of Mount Bousui down.

**"I had Matatabi's help with that one,"** the fox interjected primly. **"You have lost a day."**

Yuji shuddered. Thirty-three hours of Kurama without supervision… He was surprised there was any ocean left to float on. "What acts of terror did you inflict upon this world while I was snoozing, Ku-man?"

Those large teeth were bared at him. **"Stop it with the name!"**

Yuji blinked at the blast of hot air that had accompanied that ultimatum, considered, and then stuck out his tongue.

A low growl rumbled from Kurama, but Yuji couldn't help but snicker, despite the pure idiocy of what he was doing. Yin was probably not very happy with him or used to being mocked, and yet, it was too much fun to give up.

**"I wrote to the Hokage through the journal."**

That killed all the amusement that had been burbling through him. "You did _what?_ "

**"She was under the mistaken belief that you were the one writing, but I felt it was best to have her underestimate the person on the other side of the negotiations. I addressed the situation with our two sets of tails with her and expressed some disappointment over how the toads were assisting them."**

That made Yuji pause. He hadn't thought much about it, but it made sense, considering how far away Hinata had been only days ago. That was… disappointing. Not unexpected, considering the longstanding relationship with Konoha, but still disappointing. He shoved the matter aside. He would address it again when he could do more than run.

**"I bargained with her."**

"And?"

**"I have secured us a temporary truce. I made her aware of Orochimaru's hands and what might happen if we let them escape."**

Yuji arched an eyebrow. "And?"

**"I made her aware of your plan to release the bijuu back into the world and pointed out that since her people are so close, she has the best chance of attempting to take them into custody."**

"Ah, the world makes sense again. How close are they?"

**"Too close."**

"How many?"

**"Six humans and several hounds. Shisui and Hatake are with them."**

"But not Itachi."

Kurama shook his head. **"He is moving northward again, near Earth. He is with the Hokage and another."**

"Huh. That's the first time Itachi hasn't been sent to deal with us. You think they figure he's on our side or something?"

Kurama just snorted.

"So Konoha's goons are just lurking, waiting to snap up a few bijuu?"

The fox shrugged, his tails flicking. **"It does not matter. If these cannot get past a trio of Sharingan, then they deserve their fate."**

Yuji let his opinion on that load echo in the halls of his mind, but kept his trap shut. "And if Zetsu can find us and them on salt water, well, at least they'll be a distraction?"

**"It is nice to confirm you are capable of thought. Half of me was uncertain whether you were able to make even basic deductions."**

"You think you're so funny. So, I guess we're gonna go out with a bang. If I want to cover that statue with a shield to give us a chance to work, I'm probably going to tap the last of our Root chakra supply."

**"We still have the Hyuuga princess."**

"She wasn't part of your bargain?"

**"I was pretending to be you; you offered her return as a gesture of good faith. I just didn't say when."**

Yuji rolled his eyes. "I bet you've been awful to her in Nagato. She didn't even get to hit us and she's not an Uchiha. Leave the poor girl alone. I hope you at least fed her."

Another shrug. **"We should have no further need of her the moment Itachi upholds his half of the bargain. His two months are counting down."**

"You're just as evil as ever." Yuji sighed, but stopped short when a _ripple_ went through him. Curious, he studied the lobby, looking for signs of the tremor as he paced the cavernous space. He finally stared up, up, up at Kurama, who now looked a lot more like how Itachi had described him all those years ago that first time: much taller than Konoha's wall. He was darker too, his orange had had some shadows blended in or something.

"You okay?" he asked. "Ceiling move up for you?"

The beast smirked and sneered at him at the same time, somehow. It was clearer in here just how much Kurama had changed.

Yuji absolutely did not like this uncertainty towards his occupant. He had had enough of that over the years. The unlocking of the seal had been bad; he didn't want things to get like that again. He held out his fist to the great kitsune. "Show me ninshū. Make me understand why this is so important."

Taken aback, the fox hesitated a moment before curling a fist and extending it. It was taller than Yuji by way too much for comfort, but fortunately Kurama left it to him to close the distance. **"Mingle your chakra with mine."**

Yuji pushed some of his own yellow chakra into the orange and _loosened_ it somehow, letting the two chakra mix, eddying currents slowly blending the colours. He could _feel_ Kurama, as he always sort of did, but stronger. There was so much more insight right now, so much honesty. The fox was wary and so, so angry. Hatred had joined his halves back together, hatred towards Kushina.

_Huh._

He could tell the fox was weighing and measuring him again, as though for the first time. The beast was thorough. Yuji tried to be equally so, but it was impossible. Kurama was _vast_ and _enormous_. His memory stretched back thousands of years, too much for Yuji's mind or soul to understand. He got a weighty sense of age, wrath, and hopelessness and futility, and it was the last that had tears streaming down his cheeks and his throat and lungs aching with imprisoned sobs.

Kurama, for all his power, had felt so powerless for so long. He had blasted the bad, fetid places, rotting with hatred, but it hadn't _solved_ anything. He hadn't known how to make it better. He hadn't known how to make the Sage's dream reality. The sons had _ruined_ everything and he was so _alone_ , his siblings useless or captured, and he had _tried_ …

Yuji sobbed and forced himself not to pull his fist back despite how he just wanted to collapse under the weight of despair and the endless rage that had risen up from it.

**"Enough."** Kurama pulled back, sounding tired.

Yuji did collapse then and just howled as he curled into a ball, the feelings leeching out of his soul too slowly.

With a sigh, Kurama curled up around him, his tails completing the circle. He must have taken over driving because Yuji was _not_ capable of anything but gasping and hiccuping at the moment, his entire form shaking. He'd never experienced an emotional storm like that.

Kurama's warm exhale eased the shaking, the fox's nose apparently pointed directly at him. **"You are such a small thing, even after all these years. Your wants and needs are so small, as is your focus. Selfish. Not such a terrible thing, I suppose. But Asura chose you, and I can't let him have you, at least not without punishing him. He may have latched onto you before I was sealed into you, but we have been together from the very start, from the moment your first cell divided. You are** ** _mine_** **. You have named me friend, so I will ask this of you. I ask that your ship wait, or at least not take centre stage yet. Nothing I have tried for so long has made any difference, but I think we can. Together."**

Yuji uncurled and stared at the fox, who had compressed himself to a more manageable size somehow. He laid a trembling hand on that nose and, his throat aching from his sobs, said, "Okay. You got it, Ku-man."


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found it kind of amusing that no one seemed worried about what Kurama did during the hours Yuji was gone after how the last chapter ended with that ninshū scene...
> 
> Well, enjoy!

Takashi drifted in the mist, rage and impotence burning in him.

He could still see it playing out before him: running through the dark, new orders from Tsunade-sama being discussed. Neji had spotted Kurama on the edges of his vision, and they had faltered.

They were supposed to get Orochimaru's hands from Yuji, but they were also supposed to take advantage of how Yuji intended to extract the bijuu from the statue, so Hatake had debated keeping distance before they had finally started to close the distance.

Yuji had stood there on his platform beneath the river of stars in the sky, waiting, his hand on a small Kyuubi, if the size of an elephant could be considered small for a fox.

They had gotten closer. Takashi had been fascinated by how well Yuji had recreated that old henge. The team had unconsciously clumped up a bit, ready to defend each other's backs.

And suddenly Yuji and that Kyuubi had moved.

They had been among their circle, Yuji looking right into his eyes. Only, Yuji hadn't been in those eyes. Despite the years, Takashi had been positive that he would recognize his son in the eyes of the henge the boy wore, and there definitely hadn't been any of his son in those eyes.

Just Kyuubi.

And then paper had pressed against his skin and he had found himself here in the mist, his chakra just a trickle.

Had they all been taken? Even the hounds?

If so, Konoha would never know that Kyuubi had betrayed the deal Yuji supposedly had made with Tsunade-sama. It was looking more and more like Yuji might not have been involved in that deal at all.

* * *

Hinata fumed, tucked into a corner of the cave, her head still aching. After she had regained consciousness, Kyuubi had laughed while he handled her pants and undergarments when she hadn't been able to handle the pressure from her bladder anymore (she had almost regretted that she hadn't pissed from the pain of what the Kyuubi had done). It had just been mocking, and for that she was grateful. Despite the human form, there had been nothing human about those eyes the Kyuubi had watched from. Otherwise, it might have felt like sexual harassment.

From the Kyuubi though, it was just menace.

There was a series of poofs, like from summoning. Without raising her head, she could see the pluming of more than ten sources, each surrounding only too familiar chakra.

_No!_

The smell of ozone assaulted her as she reflexively lifted her head. There was light, an orange fox the size of an elephant glowing enough to light up the cavern and the passed out forms on the floor. Humans. Canines.

All of them.

Despair seized her, even as hope tried to strangle her. They were here with her! If they would just wake up…!

The fox in Nagato stood up and stared silently at the glowing fox; they spoke silently until Nagato laughed and began arranging all the other captives so they weren't close together.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she called softly, since he had been placed the closest to her.

He didn't stir, his body looking so strange with every muscle so lax.

The new fox turned to her and snorted before his lower jaw opened around a panting laugh. Those canines were as long as her finger. His chakra was different from the chakra possessing Nagato though; it was darker, more of a burnt orange. Yin and Yang together?

That fox curled up in the middle of the cavern, and Nagato settled down nearby, eyes on her.

She was now the only conscious member of her team, which meant she was the only one who could get them out of this mess.

Wasn't that unnerving.

* * *

Itachi leaned back against the wall of the inn room, eyes fastened to the door. This was their last night before making it back to Konoha. Raidou slept peacefully, but he could tell Tsunade was still awake behind the doors separating their room from hers. The glow of a lamp was visible through the shoji. Sighing, he got to his feet and tapped lightly on the bamboo.

"Come in, Itachi."

He slid the door open and shuffled in, meeting her golden eyes as she studied him. "Are you sure about this?" he asked as he settled cross-legged on the tatami.

She showed him a ghost of a smirk. "I'm a gambler, boy."

"I'm a better one, by accident, if you recall."

She chuckled. "Yes, I recall. You looked very nonplussed when the slot machine spat coins all over your knees. That's why you're going."

"You don't trust me."

"Would you trust a thief of a precious heirloom?"

His hand went to the necklace.

"You're a masochist, Itachi. You know that, don't you? There's no reward for bearing the burden of the hat. All the prestige means nothing, because you're expected to solve all the problems with no reward. If you don't, they complain. If you do, you just get to wake up to the same routine tomorrow. The Fire Lord is a fool. We have termites in the tree. And everyone wants something from you."

"I know." He tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace. "I know. But I have no choice. This is the best way forward. This is the only way I can see that doesn't end with blood and fire."

"They won't accept you."

"They are starting to."

"They will never love you the way they loved the geezer and Minato. You will be more like my great uncle. He was effective, but they didn't adore him. He wasn't personable, too harsh."

"If I can improve the current situation, that is something I can live with."

There was so much pity in her eyes. "More the fool, then. Make it flashy. Don't cause any property damage; we've gotten sued for that enough."

"I can't promise. His abilities don't sound like the flashy kind. Mine aren't either."

"You spit fire. And Kyuubi will be around; he always makes things flashy, apparently."

"If he is Obito, this will break Hatake-san."

Her somber mien returned. "Yes. If I could have spared him, I would have, but he's the best expert I have." She cocked her head. "Would the Uchiha have trusted him as Rokudaime?"

Itachi shook his head. "They are offended that he has our Sharingan. It would be interpreted as an insult."

"I figured. Not that he wants the job anyway. He's more popular with the Elders than you are. Shikaku is fond of you though; I'm not sure which of you he'd choose."

Itachi shrugged at his Hokage. "Whichever he felt would do the best for Konoha."

"Have you actually asked him?"

"I asked my mother instead."

Tsunade barked a laugh. "Uchiha Mikoto! The scariest housewife in Konoha."

"She would not appreciate you calling her such."

"Of course not. She was the most terrifying Monkey agent we ever had though. Dragon–1 told me so. You are just lucky (or unlucky?) that she prefers to rule from the shadows."

He raised an eyebrow at Tsunade-sama. "You think she manipulates her children that way?"

"When they are planning to be Hokage? Yes."

He shook his head, smiling. "Will you escape soon?"

With narrowed eyes, she appraised him. "If you do well, maybe."

She went back to her reading, and he stayed quiet, absorbing the sounds of the inn.

"What will Danzou do now that we have Kabuto in Inoichi-san's hands?"

"Why do you think I left Shikaku and Shizune in charge? I have no idea. With luck, they took my warning and have already dealt with the whole mess. I left it to them to be clever."

_Probably wise._

"If they didn't, well, it might become your mess if Kabuto doesn't have enough information to implicate Danzou."

Itachi grimaced, even as he understood what she had finally granted him with that gibe.

She snapped her book shut after a few minutes of silence. "Alright. I'm tired."

He bowed and shuffled back to his post in his room.

* * *

Having eaten for the first time since being gutted, Yuji took a few minutes to just breathe, sprawled on his freshly patched platform. He grimaced at the mess he had just agreed to, but Kurama was right: he had promised to take up his role in the toad prophecy, and he liked this new path better than saving the ninja that had caused him and other civilians so much grief.

It felt right, sort of.

Not that Kurama was a force of good. Frowning at that reminder, he pulled out the journal and gingerly checked it, dread swirling through him.

There were some damn angry words in there.

Six crushed in the aftermath of Kurama's blast. Tsunade didn't say whether they had died, but he supposed it didn't really matter. Crushing wasn't a pleasant state or one that could be recovered from overnight. That Kurama was committed to ninshū was a miracle considering how little he cared for humans. They could thank the Sage for that.

She had also promised to send Itachi once she was finished with a Kage Summit.

"So, are we going to get this show on the road?" Yuji asked, summoning his writing supplies. "I need to extend the bubble. What's the statue going to stand on?"

Kurama paused. **"A good point. The seafloor is too far down. I do not think I can make it stand upon the water. We should relocate to somewhere it can stand."**

"Then I'm going to shut down the ward circle. Would you mind getting back in for a while? My chakra shroud seems to work better on me than in the bubble form. Let's save what we've got left of the Root chakra until we're set to go. Think we can slip past Konoha's people without the distraction of the bijuu?"

Kurama smirked before the clone dispersed. **_Of course._**

Yuji powered his own chakra shroud back up and took down the chakra mask bubble. He then pulled out some maps he had paid good money for. They were detailed studies of the shorelines of the Kinuzu with depth markings. He had a vague dream of someday completing these studies farther from shore, but for this task what he had here was enough.

 _Do we want to double back on our progress?_ Yuji asked as he traced a finger along Tea's coastline.

**_Itachi will be meeting up with us. Konoha did not specify how he would come to us after he finished with his current mission. But, knowing how the toads were involved in getting the Hyuuga girl to Silicon City ahead of us, it is possible he could be reversed summoned to wherever we are if the Hyuuga girl and the toads will cooperate._ **

_So we could go anywhere. Hmm. Fewer people the better._ He pulled out his political map and compared them for a few spots. Finally, with a grimace, he tapped two: one north of the opening of the inlet to Port Mure along the coastline where the desert ran down to the ocean instead of abruptly off bluffs and the other on the south side of Kikai Island, one of the smaller of the Southern Islands. "Neither of these are great spots—Port Mure and Fools Port aren't more than two days away for the first and the main island is pretty close for the second—but they're the best options I can see. The ugly statue should be able to stand and still be shoulders above the water's surface. The first is closer, but…"

Kurama made no comment for a time. **_I do not know if distance will matter considering our dual aim._**

_I care about collateral damage. What if your siblings are just as trigger happy as you are?_

**_Then both places will be far too close to humans to make much of a distance._ **

"Kikai Island," Yuji finally decided, tapping it on the political map. "They can run out to sea and get far away from the damn ninja, and there aren't any hidden villages nearby."

**_Very well._ **

"Now, it looks like we have over a week before Itachi's free. We gonna be able to give the Konoha hunters the slip?"

**_Definitely. We won't need to do anything special._ **

Yuji arched an eyebrow but shook his head, rolled up his maps, and stowed them. _Ookaaay… Now, we'll have some time to burn, assuming we can use Hinata's chakra to mask us when our stock runs low. I have a couple ideas I want to try to give you an anchor to manifest around outside of me, so you don't have to make bunshin and remake them every time they poof. Do you remember if I stashed a rock or something else innocuous?_

**_You stored some shells and driftwood during your shore leave when you were Hikaru on the ship._ **

_Ah, right!_ He pulled out a scroll and summoned a pouch that rattled and clanked. He pulled out sand dollars and worn pieces of silky driftwood. _Any preference?_

Kurama took control of his hands and finally found a lump of coral. **_That looks sturdy enough._**

 _Cool. And I can bore a hole through it to string it on a necklace. Good. I might be able to fold all the seal markings into the calyces, make them less visible just in case._ Putting words to action, he dug out a length of string, used chakra to make a hole between two calyces, and strung the coral around his neck before putting the sack and rest of the ball of string away.

**_Can we finally get a move on?_ **

_Yup. We've got a ways to go. Three days? Four? You wanna drive? I wanna think about this anchor seal._

With a snort, Kurama took the reins.

Within the lobby, Yuji sat down in front of a wall and let the ideas sketch themselves across it. "Our to-do list is getting shorter," he said brightly, the warmth of Kurama's aura radiating through the whole atrium. "We've freed Namikaze, like I promised, and we've got you whole. We've got Orochimaru's bloody hands, which is pretty morbid when I think about it. We've still got Orange Mask and Zetsu and the rest of Akatsuki on our trail. How many Akatsuki are left now? Konoha got that woman, Deidara and Sasori are gone—that leaves that zombie duo you said captured Nibi."

**"There were ten involved in the extraction ritual at one point or another that are still alive according to Nagato's memories. One of them was Nagato's primary corpse body. Konan was the woman. There are six unaccounted for: Hidan, a worshiper of some Jashin god Nekomata hates; Kakuzu, a zombie that killed many of his partners for us; Zetsu; Orochimaru; Hoshigaki Kisame, a water user from Kiri; and the last is Hoshigaki's partner, a man wearing an elaborate mask. He does not speak but uses hand signs to communicate when he needs to. He was recruited based on reputation. They call him Mitani."**

"Ten. How dedicated is everyone?"

**"To varying degrees. They have their own goals. Orochimaru split from the group over a year ago after Kakuzu tried to add him to his body count. Zetsu is difficult to pin down. The darker aspect, that one is full of ill intent towards us. He means us both harm."**

"Great. Here I was hoping he was just a scout. Think you can kill him?"

**"If I can catch him, I can kill him. The catching is the difficult part. He can move through the earth, reforming partially to scout. It is rare for him to rise completely from the ground or trees. There is something very off about both aspects of him. I cannot be sure of what though."**

"Well, that doesn't sound good. He's on our list then, but he's lower priority than Orange Mask. Now, your siblings. Nibi is… well, stuck. I have no idea how to get Nibi back. Then we've got Ichibi, Rokubi, Shichibi, and Gobi in the statue, correct?"

**"Yes."**

"So we just need to finish pulling them out of the vessel, and then we're done with Nagato. You just wanna destroy his eyes, right?"

**"They are the problem. Without them, I do not think he will be too much trouble. His knowledge is unfortunate, so turning him to ash would be better."**

"I need to know if I can offer him to Konoha as a bargaining chip, Ku-man. Yes or no."

**"I would prefer to say no, but if you must, you can with conditions. He knows many things and seems to understand less, but with enough pieces of the puzzle, people in Konoha may begin to form the whole. They already have Konan's knowledge, and she knows almost everything Nagato does."**

"Okay, that's a last resort. Fine. Let's try not to piss them off now that we've got this temporary truce in place. If we do break the peace, I'll offer favours first.

"Next, we've got your ninshū goal. Wind Temple monks gotta be the people closest to using chakra that way, right?"

**"Yes. The nightly talks, those are a form of ninshū."**

"Okay, so that's a good start. I wanna talk with them, see if they have any ideas, but I don't think they do. They're isolationist. We need to be smarter than that. We need to make ninshū what ninja want to use instead. I think I need to talk to somebody with a different perspective. Somebody like… what's her name?"

**"I do not remember her having much if any chakra. What use will she be?"**

"Hey, chakra shouldn't be a measure of usefulness! Get that idea out of your head. She's gonna think outside the chakra box. She'll think of influencing people and changing minds, or at least I hope so. Either way, she's on the list, long term."

* * *

Hinata was startled when Nagato suddenly disappeared, but the other fox in the cavern didn't seem surprised. That must have been why he had been sent here: to serve as a sentry for when they would need Nagato.

Hinata spared a brief moment for wondering whether she would ever see him alive again.

 **"Little Hyuuga, do not think I am not aware of what you are thinking. Do you think I cannot feel your ill intent towards me spike now that I am the only one here? Do you really think you can be faster than I am? That you can free your teammates before I can react?"** The fox chuckled. **"No, you are just as pathetically outmatched as you were before. More so, because I am whole again."**

That confirmed her theory about Yin and Yang at least. "What will you do with Nagato?"

**"Finish with the only reason we kept him alive; free my siblings. Then we will remove the Rinnegan from the world again. Can't let it remain a temptation."**

"Even though they are the Sage's eyes?"

**"Especially because of that. He would have been ashamed at how they were abused."**

"Are you certain? How can a bijuu know?"

The fox only laughed. **"Oh more than certain. He was my father, after all, little Hyuuga, just as he is your line's uncle. What a twisted family we are, no? Almost as varied in form as Loki's children."**

She had no idea who that was, but decided it was best not to get sidetracked. "And you are alright with other gods going back into the world, even if they are your siblings?"

Kurama laughed again. **"We can call them gods, if you wish, but they are lesser creatures. You have only to count their tails. Just as I am a pale shadow of the Juubi, they are pale in comparison to my might."** He paused, scenting the air briefly. **"Still, they are much greater than any ninja you have ever known. Even that ballsack."** The last was growled out with disgust.

Hinata blinked. "That… ballsack?"

Toothy grin again. **"Shukaku. Ichibi."**

"And you will free him, even though you clearly despise him?"

**"And he will despise knowing that he owes me a debt for the rest of eternity. How is your sense of smell developing, little Hyuuga?"**

That shut her up. She glared and just kept on threading her way around the chakra sucking seal, trying to find a way to bypass the upper limit it enforced on her.

Nagato reappeared in a burst of smoke, to both her and the fox's surprise. The two pieces of Kyuubi shared a look, communicating, before the beast's chakra inside walked the man over to her, another paper in his hand. Hinata tried to writhe away, but he ignored her motions and pressed hand wreathed in his orange chakra to her belly, the paper sticking and beginning to tug on her chakra even as he peeled away the seal that had been on her since she had awoken. It glowed with her own indigo chakra. He slipped it into Nagato's pocket, the pants obviously Yuji's from how they were far too short on the wraithlike man. He slipped out of the cavern and returned with two jugs bearing labels for apple juice and a carrot. He shoved the latter in her face.

 **"Eat. I still want you at least to make it back to Konoha to see how it smells."** He then turned to forcing the apple juice down the throats of her unconscious teammates. Obviously, the Konoha ninja were going to be kept alive for a while yet. She relaxed just slightly. **"Besides, you're going to be our chakra source. Can't have any of you little ants dying."**

All the terror came back.

* * *

Itachi returned home for the first time since the meeting with his father and the parents of his kidnapped clansmen. Uchiha in the streets watched him warily or with disappointment, but even his mother's blank face couldn't completely hide the relief in her eyes at seeing him. She ushered him in formally, but once the door was closed, she hugged him tightly.

"I'm alive and well," he said, rubbing her back. "I didn't even have to use a single kunai. Tsunade-sama got her point across, though the Raikage did ruin the table and a few walls."

His mother's scoff told him more than enough about her opinion on the Yondaime Raikage.

"We've stirred the ants' nests. All the other Akatsuki members will fall quickly now, if only to retain pride. She made it into a competition, almost."

"Good." She stepped back, though her hands were still encircling his wrists. "You're going back out."

"Yes. The boy bargained for leniency. They… They will be bait for Orange Mask."

"The one they think is Obito-kun." She sounded so sad.

"What can you tell me about him? I don't remember very clearly."

"He was a bright boy, but not very clever. He had a charisma to him and a caring heart. He loved the village as much as you do but more openly, whereas you are guarded. If someone twisted him into hating Konoha…" She shook her head. "It would have taken a lot. It would have taken utter betrayal."

"The death of Nohara Rin at Hatake Kakashi's hands?"

His mother's brow rose. "And how did you find that out?"

"Bijuu research. They wanted to give me a timeline on the Sanbi."

Her eyebrow arched higher.

He shrugged, forcing himself to keep meeting her eyes.

She smirked. "Uh-huh." She turned from him to go make tea. "He wasn't a particularly skilled boy, even by the rest of the village's standards. He only activated his Sharingan just before he was crushed. We were curious how Kakashi had managed to advance his Sharingan from two tomoe to three and then activate the Mangekyou. His chakra and physiology isn't an Uchiha's: he shouldn't have managed to trigger the advancement no matter what emotional distress he went through. However, he did have three tomoe after Nohara put herself in the way of his Raikiri."

Itachi nodded.

"The battlefield where Rin died was very strange." He didn't bother asking how she had gotten her hands on the reports. She had undoubtedly been busy while he had been away. "There were Kiri ANBU grown right into strange, leafless trees, some of them actually dismembered or impaled by trunks as thick as thirty centimetres in diameter, but they only had one growth ring. It was something we would have seen in the Shodaime's day, except his trees usually ended up with leaves. Kakashi was very traumatized, be he was positive the trees hadn't been there before.

"He used the standard clan jutsu, so you shouldn't have any surprises there. And your brother observed his Mangekyou abilities."

"Yes."

"He's out training with a couple of his year mates; the Inuzuka and Aburame boys. He should be back by dinner."

Itachi shook his head. "I need to leave before four."

"He's probably at his usual training ground."

He nodded but stayed to drink tea with his mother. "Shisui will be there."

She squeezed his hand. "You two take care of each other." She hugged him tight when he finally readied himself to go find Sasuke. "Be careful. I will destroy everything if you die."

Grimacing back the sting of his eyes, he nodded against her shoulder. "Tell Father I said goodbye."

"You said 'See you soon'. Go see your brother."

With a last squeeze, he slipped away. He found Sasuke chucking shuriken at Kiba while Shino watched impassively. He watched for a while, glad these boys were all in the village and not out fighting a damn war. He would make sure they never had to. "Sasuke."

His brother broke away, ignoring Kiba's protests as they went further into the depths of the training ground. "You're back!" Sasuke grinned at him.

"You've been using my TV, haven't you."

"It's not like you, Shisui, or Tenzou are around to make it useful right now. You're going back out, aren't you."

"You're getting almost as knowing as mother. Careful, or you'll be just as unnerving."

Sasuke smirked, but the expression faltered. "Where are you going?"

"To keep my promise to Yuji and Kyuubi."

His brother looked alarmed. "Alone?"

"Shisui and your sensei will be there. Hinata and Neji too with the rest of the team."

Sasuke sighed with relief. "Be careful. He's tough. I didn't manage to put a scratch on him. He likes to tease."

"I won't let him."

His brother nodded as though that was a given. "You guys take care of each other. Kakashi-sensei was torn up about how it might be Obito. And Sensei likes to be self-sacrificing even when he's normal. And Hinata is stronger than she looks, but still protect her. She thinks she needs to be weak too much."

Itachi ruffled his brother's hair.

"And you and Shisui are just dumb, so maybe try to plan things out a little, huh?"

Itachi rewarded the brat with a poked to the forehead. "We'll try. Be smart. Don't let them do anything stupid here either." "Even if I don't make it back" went unsaid. "Mom threatened to go crazy."

They both shuddered, and Sasuke hesitated before wrapping Itachi in a hug and then scooting away. Itachi smirked and ruffled Sasuke's hair one last time before heading to Admin.

* * *

Yuji face-palmed as he found yet another small error in his bubble seal design, painstakingly scrubbed it out, and replaced it with the two marks it actually needed. "So, are the Konoha ninja going to catch up in time? Did they figure out where we're going? Or are we doing this with just Itachi?"

In his head, Kurama chuckled. **_Oh, they've kept up._**

"You are being disturbingly evasive. What did you do?"

**_Kept them from becoming a problem. And ensured they could travel at our pace for when we need them._ **

Yuji arched an eyebrow and then an awful possibility occurred to him. He raced to pull out his body scroll; Kurama had been using it to get Hinata's chakra, but Yuji had been so busy developing the anchor seal he hadn't bothered looking at it. Sure enough, there were a whole bunch of new marks. "HOLY SHIT!?" He dropped the scroll, recoiling from it as though it were a snake, scrambling to the very edge of the platform, smearing chalk as he went. He was too terrified to even be pissed off at ruining his work on the bubble seal. He panted, the adrenaline rushing through his system.

Terror became horror. "What have you _done_?" he whispered.

**_Kept them out of trouble._ **

"Oh gods, they're going to kill us when we let them out!"

**_Only if I let them._ **

"Oh, excuse me, I thought _Uchiha Shisui_ was with that team!"

Kurama grumbled and finally said, **_He is._**

"And you're not concerned? Not even a little bit?"

Silence.

"That's what I thought!" Yuji ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the curls. "So much trouble! Ugh! Would it kill you to be diplomatic!"

**_They aren't shark bait._ **

That shut Yuji up. _I am a little impressed by your restraint then._ He huffed and, cringing, went to pick up the scroll. "Hounds too?"

**_Had to make certain they couldn't be summoned by someone else and put the bargain with Tsunade in jeopardy._ **

Yuji rolled his eyes, but he had to admit that made sense. "They're all with Nagato and Hinata, and you've been feeding them, right?"

**_Yes, boy._ **

"And you left me in the dark for _nine days_."

**_I suspected you would react this way. Best to keep you from panicking until the last moment._ **

Yuji raised his middle finger at nothing. It had to be enough that Kurama could see it through his eyes. Singing "They're gonna kill me, they're gonna kill me" on repeat, he ran his fingers over each person seal, trying to decide which one he dared to summon. Hatake would probably slaughter him—he had struck Yuji as the kind of guy you didn't do this kind of shit to if you wanted to live. Shisui was too dangerous. He didn't know who anybody else on that team was; Kurama hadn't shared.

**_Hinata is the safest option; you leashed her. She is somewhat aware of what is happening. I intended to leave her team asleep._ **

"We've been using her chakra. She's not gonna be any less pissed." But it was the safest option. Hopefully. He summoned her.

She was awake, which somehow didn't surprise him. She was also glaring at him such that he worried he might soon spontaneously combust, her teeth bared. "What are you going to do with me _this time_?"

Yuji blinked. "Ku-man, what did you do to her?"

**_I gave her a present._ **

"What kind of present, statue crusher." Hinata was just staring at him now, keeping up with the one-sided conversation.

**_A useful one._ **

"Useful, my ass. What did you do to her?"

**_If things went according to plan, she should be able to smell chakra._ **

"Smell chakra?" Yuji clenched his teeth. "Why the fuck would you do that to her? Did you mess with her brain? What if you had done something wrong and killed her?" He started pacing. "Gods, you maniac!"

**_You would criticize a god bestowing blessings?_ **

That stopped Yuji short. He ground his teeth for a moment. "That would assume that I thought for one second you considered what you did to Hinata a 'blessing'. Knowing you, it's more likely you meant it as some sort of curse upon Konoha. I would definitely interfere with even a god cursing people. Undo it!"

**_No._ **

"Ass!"

**_You have no possible reason you could give that would sway me into undoing this._ **

"I will let Shisui try to kick your ass."

Kurama just snorted. **_Self interest keeps that from being a credible threat._**

"I will stop working on the anchor."

**_You promised to work on separating us. What happened to promises being sacred?_ **

"… Fuck you."

Hinata's stare had evolved from menacing to offended to confused. She was probably still pissed, but at least his antics would hopefully give her pause if she ever got free.

"Ah! How about I make the anchor so that you are forced to manifest as a copy of Shukaku? You would forever look like 'the ballsack' unless you were with me, and when you're with me I will forever nag you until you undo what you did."

This time, the silence was longer. **_Are you certain you wish for me to 'mess with her brain' a second time? It may prove fatal this time._**

Yuji stopped short and pursed his lips before he decided to put it before the victim. "I might be able to get him to undo it if I'm super irritating for a really long time. He says undoing it may be fatal though; he's not the most delicate guy."

She blinked at him, as though she had expected anything but this. "He… You could make him undo it?"

"I am super annoying. It is my one skill."

She looked torn between her indignation and unexpected amusement. "I… I… Tsunade-sama. I would like Tsunade-sama to try to fix it first; I trust _her_."

"Wise of you. If she doesn't succeed, do you want me to make Kurama try then?"

She hesitated again, but then she set her jaw and nodded firmly.

"Okay. I promise you that if Tsunade can't undo whatever fuckery Kurama forced upon you, I shall force him to undo it. I apologize for putting you in Kurama's power such that he had the opportunity to visit this evil shit upon you. I did not realize he would lash out in this way. I do not expect nor am I worthy of forgiveness for these offences." He bowed low to her despite how she was bound and prone.

She was silent for a long time, but realized soon enough that he wouldn't be moving until she responded. "I won't forgive you," she warned.

He raised his head. "You shouldn't. I was negligent." He grimaced. "I'm sorry about capturing you in the first place too, but I was pretty short on options at the moment. I was being hunted by Akatsuki, so having Konoha come into the picture at that moment didn't make me very tolerant."

She just glared.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "We've already hashed out a truce with the Hag. You'll be released. Itachi is going to come fulfill his end of the deal. He said your team should get the toads to summon him out here if they're willing. Do you have a temporary contract with the toads?"

With narrowed eyes, she studied him. "What is Itachi-san going to do?"

"Kill that Uchiha in Akatsuki. We're gonna be bait."

"How do I know you're telling the truth about Tsunade-sama?"

It was Yuji's turn to roll his eyes. "Does your team have some way of communicating with Konoha? I know most missions don't, but Itachi made it sound like you did."

She was silent.

"Are you willing to communicate through the toads then? You summon one, release it, it goes to Konoha, you summon it again after it's had time to get you orders?"

She huffed, but she nodded. Yuji might have been worried about her escaping that way, but he was pretty sure the situation would sort itself out once Tsunade's orders started getting through a conduit Hinata actually trusted.

"Cool. I'm gonna put up a mask and then you can get to it. One sec." Working around her, he cleaned up the seal pattern he had smeared in his scrambles and, guiltily pulling out a chakra sucker seal full of Hinata's chakra since he had long ago run out of Root chakra, activated the mask bubble. "Zetsu hunted me down by sensing my chakra just before you spotted me in Silicon, so I've been masking myself ever since. If we're gonna keep under the radar, better safe than sorry. Now," he clapped his hands a few times to shake off the chalk, "I'm gonna remove the chakra sucker and the bindings. Please don't do anything stupid. Kurama won't take it well; he's been way more trigger happy since we got his Yin half back, as you've probably noticed. Yang wasn't entirely mellow either, but in comparison…" He quirked a grimace. "Yeah, let's just say Ku-man is a lot less cool now." He bent down and released her, ready for anything. Dealing with Nagato had taught him caution.

**_Considering your definition of "cool" is a whore, I'm not offended for once._ **

_You can only hope to be even half as cool as Mom. You can't even dance. What do you care if she was a whore anyway? You're a bijuu; sexual reproduction isn't a thing for you. Whore is a human stigma._

**_… You are correct, but I have been living with you humans for over a hundred years. One picks up such cultural quirks. Kunoichi are very sensitive about being compared to whores._ **

_Huh._

Hinata was massaging feeling back into her arms, and Yuji could sympathize. He'd gotten seized up more than a couple times after meditating with the Wind Temple monks. Hinata had been stuck tied up for days, not just hours. Guilt speared him again. He watched her carefully though; she was a real ninja, not like him. She would still be dangerous. He kept a light hold on his end of her leash seal.

She was either feeling cooperative or trying to lull him into a false sense of security though: she ran through handseals he recognized and, a slit opening in her thumb from her own chakra (which he thought was entirely creepy), planted her palm on the platform's deck. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Smoke cleared in the sea breeze, and there was a toad about the size of Yuji's hands. "Hinata-san?" it asked.

"Do you have any news?"

"Only that Tsunade-sama is wondering what has become of your team. She has called upon us to ask if there has been any contact. She wishes Itachi to join you."

Yuji butted in. "Can he be reverse summoned here?"

The toad frowned at him, bulbous eyes narrowing. "Yes."

"Will you do it now then? The sooner we get this over with, the sooner everybody gets to go home."

Hinata did not look happy at not getting a chance to speak, but she did look relieved when another burst of smoke revealed Itachi, half crouched and looking a little nonplussed. He arched an eyebrow at Yuji and then Hinata. And then he frowned when he realized no one else was around.

Yuji interrupted before Itachi could get a word in edgewise. "Great to see you, Itachi! Toad-san, you do great work. Thank you!"

With a wary glance around, the toad released the jutsu.

Itachi was far less flustered. "Yuji, where is Hinata's team?"

"Weeeeell…"

"Captured," Hinata spat, glaring.

"By Akatsuki?" Itachi asked.

"By Kyuubi!"

Yuji stared skyward and groaned under his breath. It really sucked that one of the gods he believed in was the one that had caused this whole clusterfuck; there was no point in praying for mercy.

 ** _Ask and you shall receive,_** Kurama mocked and took over. **"They are perfectly safe,"** he drawled, while Yuji groaned and banged his head against the wall of the lobby. **"They might have attracted… unwelcome attention. Besides, it was the only way I could be certain that none of them would decide to act outside their orders. ANBU are so very tricky, you understand. You can never tell which head of Konoha they're following behind their masks."**

Itachi looked deadly serious now. "Are you implying something, Kurama-san? Perhaps that you have had trouble with ANBU agents that aren't following the Hokage's orders?"

**"Implying? No, I am simply recounting some history. Mito witnessed some very interesting events that the rest of Konoha was not privy too."**

Itachi didn't look convinced. "You will bring them here. They will be unharmed."

**"Ah, of course. The bargain you struck with young Yuji did say that the Konoha personnel were to be afforded every courtesy."**

Itachi narrowed his eyes, which were beginning to look very slightly red.

Kurama just laughed and picked up the body scroll. **"It shall be less crowded this time, at least. The boy wanted something closer to a circle for his work with the Shinigami."**

Six humans and several hounds appeared around them, fortunately visibly unharmed. Yuji recognized two of them right away: Hatake and Shisui. Another looked similar enough to Hinata that Yuji figured he was a relative. And there were three ANBU: Dog, Monkey, and a Rat…

_No…_

Yuji stared at Kurama in the lobby, eyes wide. Kurama didn't look at him.

"You didn't tell me," he hissed, stalking over to punch Kurama's knee as hard as he could, despite the overwhelming difference in size. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me!"

Kurama didn't answer him. Instead, he spoke in the outside world to Itachi and Hinata. **"They may be rather upset upon waking. I am counting on you to keep them in check. I am sure you would much rather I didn't interfere."**

Deciding he had had enough of being ignored, Yuji dropped the ceiling on Kurama's head, which made him snarl and open his eyes. Outside, Yuji's body listed and sank to its knees.

"Why didn't you tell me!"

 **"How is it any different that you know now? You would be just as betrayed, just as bitter, if I had told you before. You would have internalized that bitterness, not had a healthy way to work through it right in front of you."** Kurama bared his teeth.

"You still shouldn't have kept it from me! You've known since long before, since Silicon!"

Kurama didn't deny it. He lied by omission when he lied or by saying things that could seem like answers but weren't actually answers because he didn't use proper nouns to be specific, another kind of lying by omission. And when he was too tightly boxed in to lie, he kept silent.

Yuji growled at him, teeth bared. Never let it be said Kurama hadn't rubbed off on him. He took control of his body before it toppled over and Hinata pummelled him, shooting to his feet and stalking over to the bound and sealed Rat. He ruthlessly ripped the mask off and threw it aside, not caring that it splashed into the sea.

He stared.

His dad was so good at Henge no Jutsu; he almost couldn't see any resemblance between him and Mamoru. Takashi was … different. The placement of his eyes, the width and shape of his jaw and nose, the fullness of his mouth, his cheekbones… Everything was different. And yet, there was something very basic that was the same. Mamoru was a sketch made by a person that knew how to draw people but didn't know what Takashi looked like, had only had him just barely described for reference. Takashi's features could easily hide behind Mamoru's.

Brilliant.

Yuji's fists clenched. He imagined socking his father hard in that strong jaw covered in nine days' worth of stubble.

Instead, he ripped off the two seals.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where have I been? You might be asking that question. Well, as usual, I've been busy. The demands of real life like to suck time away. Motivation is also hard to sustain when you're writing in a bubble. Writing groups and beta readers are usually a cure for that. Any suggestions?

Tsunade considered Shikaku and Shizune, the latter wearing a mix between a grimace and a banal, professional smile.

"So he's been keeping a low profile? So low you haven't seen him for a couple days?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said weakly.

Shikaku just kept to a nod.

"Dragon–1?"

At her sign, the agent appeared by her desk on one knee. She had to wonder if his joints pained him when he did that. She had seen him without his mask only a handful of times, the first just after being voted in as Hokage, and he had been quite old then. "Hokage-sama," he whispered, bowing his head.

"Where is our rotting root?"

"Danzou was last spotted withdrawing into the abandoned Root caverns. His tails have not reported him leaving but have not managed to follow him into the warren without revealing themselves. Has the time come to retrieve him?"

She raised an eyebrow at Shikaku, who sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Inoichi says that he's found memories of Danzou forcing Kabuto from an orphanage, but that's the only solid evidence. Everything else is circumstantial: Orochimaru told him some things, but it's the snake's word against Danzou's unless we can find other proof. We can charge him with blackmail, but anything else…" He shrugged.

"What about the paper trail?"

The head jounin shook his head. "You know there's no paper trail for ANBU spies."

"Dragon?"

He was silent for a time. "I did go through my records, but this was done without my approval or the Hokage's knowledge, so it is not in the sealed files. Root's files are all in the minds of its leaders."

"And behind that damned talking seal. What's preventing me from ordering him to remove it again?"

Shizune and Shikaku traded looks.

Dragon–1 got left with the task of answering. "Nothing. Only the way Root members are conditioned to regard Danzou as the highest authority, above any Hokage or Fire Lord, prevents your orders from being effective."

She pursed her lips. "And if I order Danzou to order them and he refuses?"

Shikaku stepped in this time. "And if he decides to refuse you, you had better have all the ANBU operatives and the jounin between you and his Root agents. Unless you're willing to let them stage a bloody coup."

"That would undermine their motto of working in the shadows," Dragon whispered, dark amusement twisting the tone. "But perhaps they would simply claim it was the tipping point. In any case, Hokage-sama, the difficulty lies in the unknown quantity of Root agents. During the disbandment that Sandaime-sama tried to order, some fifty agents were officially brought to light and released into the regular ANBU ranks, since they were not well adjusted enough to go anywhere else. We've kept a close eye on them since. But we only have Danzou's word that fifty was the grand total. I greatly doubt it is."

Tsunade growled. "If nothing else, having that little shit whittling down his numbers by taking down the hunting parties at least reduced his manpower."

Shikaku and Shizune traded another look. "The boy?" Shikaku asked, catching on more quickly. "Danzou was hunting him?"

Tsunade didn't acknowledge the remark. "Please tell me it doesn't look like there are teams out right now."

Dragon kept quiet.

With a huge sigh, Tsunade yanked open her lower desk drawer and pulled out a bottle and saucer. After slinging back a shot, she set the dish back down and closed her eyes. "Okay, actually tell me the truth then."

Dragon began reciting.

* * *

Mikoto felt a shiver run up her spine and cautiously flicked her eyes away from the encrypted report she had been deciphering. Someone was behind her, and she hadn't heard the door open.

Spinning, she prepared to use her pen in place of a kunai to hurl through the lurker's eye, but the space behind her was empty: only the wall. That solved it.

She shot to her feet and slid aside the door to the balcony. Snake–28 was leaning casually against the pillar there, eyeholes staring straight at her, as hair raising a presence as always. "Senpai."

"Kohai." She didn't bother rasping. The woman took pride in her voice since she had nothing else of beauty left to her. It wasn't a particularly fine one, but that just spoke to what was left to compare it against.

"It's rare you come to see me."

"Yes. It's rare that they allow me time to myself this time of year."

Ah, yes, November. Mikoto reevaluated her senpai, trying to judge the stability of her mind. It wasn't always obvious when she was off-kilter—it happened too often even during the rest of the year. "Something to say? Or have you come to taunt me?"

Snake laughed. "It would be the perfect time for it, wouldn't it? Many of your people away scouring Earth for signs of your abducted sons, who are most likely both beyond saving. It is a dangerous time for an Uchiha, the time between activating the Sharingan and being deadly enough with its use to protect them from all who would take them. While the Hyuuga are cardboard fuckwits, their policy of sealing their eyes at least protects those bearing the genetic trait somewhat."

It was nothing Mikoto hadn't considered before. The idea had rolled around the clan for ages, especially after Hatake Kakashi had proven to the world that the Sharingan could be successfully transplanted into a non-Uchiha. It was why she had always known they would never find those two poor abducted chuunin intact. "You were never one to take the easy or obvious route."

That made Snake laugh harder. "Oh, I do miss having you around, kohai. It breaks my heart to go out there without you. You're wasted here."

She didn't bother disagreeing with the old bitch; fond as Mikoto was of the strange, broken creature, Snake did not want to understand motherhood and cringed away from clan ties. "You know how I must be the one guiding how the pot is stirred."

"Yes, I suppose so. That boy of yours and Shisui, both out there now." She sighed. "Off to win glory or ruin? Hand in hand, though. Always one with the other if you know where to look."

So talkative. It really was November. Mikoto frowned worriedly at the old woman, grateful for the mask covering that ruined face, but wishing she could read the eyes behind it to see hints of which way Snake was about to jump.

Snake wasn't entirely off-balance; she noticed Mikoto's barely-there expression and wagged a gloved finger at her. "I am in this time," she crooned.

Mikoto relaxed slightly in response. "Your real purpose, senpai?"

Snake tilted her head slightly and waved her hand, fluttering her fingers. "Danzou does so love to set fashion trends, does he not? That new binding on his arm that last time I saw him, I do not think it will catch on." Now she waved away her words as though she hadn't just dropped a bomb. "I do so hate being confined here. I should be out there, killing things. At least they didn't send me with the pup. I should be there if the rumours are true, but I was never very good at facing a pair of Sharingan. We should spar again so I can get better."

Mikoto just about gawked at the mad woman, the hint killing any glib response she might have made otherwise. "Ah… Of course, senpai. Perhaps on Thursday afternoon, if you are still available."

Finally, her voice lost that singsong tone and dropped into her usual ANBU hoarse whisper. "Oh, I'll be around for another seventeen days. They won't let me out until I'm free again." Snake sauntered a couple steps away from the porch, into the back garden, peering up at the sky.

"Where can he be found, senpai?"

"Every rat has its hole. You'll need a bright light." And then the mad woman was gone.

"Damn," Mikoto whispered.

* * *

Itachi recognized the disaster about to happen just before the Rat agent's mask splashed into the sea and Yuji just stared at the face of the man beneath it. That… Sasuke had said that Yuji's father was being sent along. He ripped the two seals off Shisui quickly, taking his eyes off the frozen Yuji as little as possible.

Dark emotions were flickering over his face. Rage made his dark lips twist back, revealing comparatively bright teeth. Yuji was only armed with that one knife at his back, but Itachi had read all the reports. He knew Yuji didn't need that knife, that he carried it to make himself feel more like a civilian.

Shisui was stirring, but Itachi didn't spare him a glance as Yuji's hand shot out and ripped the two seals stuck to Rat's skin. The papers crumpled in his hand.

Itachi slowly got back to his feet, ready to move. He couldn't let this go badly. Letting his Sharingan activate, he was dismayed to see Kyuubi's chakra building up just below visible levels on Yuji's back.

Rat's eyes opened.

* * *

Takashi recognized the mist fading into blackness was not death after a moment and opened his eyes, still feeling drained from having a chakra sucker on him for so long. He immediately went back to forming chakra as his eyes adjusted to the bright light of day after so long in the mist. There was a dark figure above him, though it took a few more seconds for his eyes to adjust further to make the man-shaped silhouette into something more.

Takashi was again confronted with the henge Yuji had adapted from the one Takashi had crafted and modified over the years for his charge. It was not a perfect adaptation, not quite what Takashi would have done to create "Yuji's" appearance at sixteen, but it was faithful enough to recognize immediately. The cheekbones weren't quite the shape he had intended, and the curl of the lip didn't quite sync up with the face Takashi had created, but the link was there. Yuji had obviously spent hours in front of a mirror creating the look and feel of this henge.

This was Mamoru and Hiromi's son.

A wiry fist wrapped around his heart and squeezed as his eyes burned. That was Mamoru's son in those eyes, not the foreign expression of the fox. Hardened, bitter, furious, but that was Yuji.

Somehow, despite how the grimy feel of his body made it obvious he had been held captive for days, he smiled slightly at this boy, this son that was his, or so the scars Mamoru had left said.

"Hello, Shimura Takashi," this boy growled. "Long time no see. Did you murder Mae? Did you murder my mother?"

He heard a slight gasp. Hinata-san? He could sense the others around now, watching the scene play out warily.

"Yuji," a voice he didn't immediately recognize said cautiously, but his son ignored the speaker.

His hands were still bound, but he had chakra again. He also had that very important trump card, but then all members of the team had the same. Why were they not using it? What had changed, or were they waiting on him? Did he really have the best shot, despite being watched so closely?

Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to channel his chakra. He spoke too. "The henge is very good, if not quite how you would have looked if the mission had lasted this long."

"Is Mae dead!"

Even Takashi could feel the weight of Kyuubi's chakra burbling beneath the henge's dark skin. "You already know the answer to that."

Yuji shook his head. "If you're on this mission, I really didn't know you well enough to know that. My father wouldn't have abducted my mom and erased her from this world just so she wouldn't talk. You're Shimura Takashi, not Mamoru, my father. Is she alive?"

That burned slightly, but he didn't let himself show it. "Mae is no more, but she wasn't dead the last time I had contact with her."

"And when was that?"

Takashi used a rivulet to press the locking seal against Yuji's foot as he answered. "Not since the last time I saw you."

Something about Kyuubi's chakra shuddered slightly as the seal made skin contact, but Yuji didn't sway, though he did glance down and blink. Takashi's heart sank as an orange chakra arm extended from Yuji's hand and snagged the seal. The boy took it carefully, pulling his sleeve over his fingers before gripping it by the corner and studying it. His gaze lost focus and emotions flickered across his face before he focused on Takashi again.

It hadn't worked. Why?

Fury and betrayal twisted that face. "Fuck Fukasaku and fuck you." And Takashi was yanked by his ankle by a warm chakra arm and smashed into the ocean's surface and plunged far into the depths.

* * *

Hinata gagged as the plume of water from Takashi-san's plunge descended back to patter on the waves. Something smelled of sulphur and putrid flesh. Crouched between her recovering cousin and sensei, she withdrew her hands from the diagnostic jutsu and pressed them over her nose and mouth.

Takashi-san must have used the locking seal Fukasaku and Gerotora had provided, but it hadn't worked, obviously. Realizing what was about to happen, she wavered between her sensei and her cousin for a moment before looping her arms around Neji-niisan's waist and using Shunshin to get out of range. She had to trust that Kakashi-sensei would follow.

He did, as did the rest of the team, but many of them not by their own power. Kyuubi's chakra arms flung many of them and the hounds away. Dog, who had not quite roused, was over Itachi's shoulder, but many of the hounds yipped their distress as they skipped like stones before finding their feet on the rolling waves. With her eye, Hinata could see that Takashi-san had been forced down to the sea floor and that Monkey was fighting her way on top of the sea's surface after having sunk a bit.

The Monkey agent seemed the most rattled by far, looking around wildly for her ANBU partner before shouting, "Takashi!" Her chakra roiled before some ghost of her plunged at Yuji, into him. Hinata smelled rotting pine needles, too strong for comfort.

Yuji staggered, but Kyuubi's chakra flared brighter before dimming, and Monkey fell to her knees and began to sink through the water before Shisui scooped her up.

Hinata could see that sea green chakra of Monkey's being overwhelmed in Yuji's maelstrom of yellow and Kyuubi orange before being completely subsumed.

Monkey did not stir. What had left did not return.

* * *

**_We should kill them all!_ **

_Oh shut up,_ Yuji snarled, his own will laced with Kyuubi's in the arm holding Takashi down on the seafloor.

**_They broke the treaty!_ **

_No shit. But I did tell you they were going to kill us for taking them captive._

**_At least kill him!_ **

Yuji felt his wrath resonating with Kyuubi and forced himself to take a mental deep breath, trying to step back from the edge that was very tempting. Gone, but not dead, or so he'd said. Yuji held onto that like a lifeline.

_It wasn't like it was going to hurt you. You're too big to go back in your cage in the basement. You've moved up in the world, besides. Locking the door again didn't do anything to you, you spiteful wuss._

**_It's the principle of the act! He and the toad should die!_ **

Yuji gritted his teeth. _Calm the fuck down. With my luck, you killed that intruder a second ago._

**_Yes. I shredded her: a paper projection, easily tattered._ **

He could see her limp body in Shisui's arms, and the bottom of his stomach fell out. Shisui was glaring at him, eyes red. If Shisui was going to force this, Yuji wasn't going to back down. He had not struck first, so this was still justified as far as he was concerned. Not the shredding of Monkey, though the agent had trespassed at a stupid moment, but everything else.

_Not the most pleasant place you've got here, nephew,_ something whispered up the back of his neck. _Your interior decorator is something awful. Pillars are so six centuries ago. And vaulted ceilings? Way outdated._

He blinked. "Who said that?" he called through the lobby.

Outside, Itachi was barking at his cousin, trying to order him to back down.

"And let him drown Rat and leave Monkey soulless?" Shisui demanded.

"We have orders! This is salvageable," Itachi barked, setting Dog down as the man had finally regained consciousness. "Besides, killing him will not help Monkey if she's using Yamanaka techniques."

In the lobby, Yuji felt that shiver up his spine again and whipped around, but there was nothing there.

_Are you really going to drown Takashi?_

This time, when he spun, he caught a brief flash of blond hair and teal eyes, translucent before fading. Kurama's growl echoed through the lobby, but Yuji waved a hand to shut him up. The growl increased in volume, but Yuji showed him the bird and glared until the beast subsided. Yuji spun slowly, trying to catch that ghost again. "I know what Shimura Takashi's strengths were; I doubt they've changed much."

_So you know drowning him won't work?_

"Of course I do. Dad having Water nature was his coolest thing. If I deprive him of chakra again, sure, but as he is now, he'll survive."

_Ah…_

He thought he caught another glimpse out of the corner of his eye and spun back the other way, but she was gone. "I should drown him though, for all he's done and what he tried to do. He's always been Konoha's creature more than he's been my dad. I didn't realize that, not really, until it was too late."

A sigh echoed. _Perhaps. He's always been desperate to prove how not like Danzou he is, to show he is loyal to the Hokage without any holds barred. But that's changed._

"Why would you say that?"

_Mae. She's gone but not dead. I made her gone, you know. I made Mae and Hiromi of the last years sleep, buried them under lead weights, and I made Mae diverge into Kato Eiko. I created the fork in the road at Takashi's request when he should have overwritten her completely or dumped her corpse out at sea._

Yuji almost held his breath, not that it was necessary in here. He couldn't afford to miss this though.

A shadow of a woman flickered from the light of a torch on the floor before fading away again. _The Takashi I knew, the Takashi that left Konoha, the boy I consider my brother in spirit, wouldn't have let Mae live. He would have tied that loose end up so tightly it would never unravel._

_He would never have been selfish enough to keep her in this world, ready to send her to Port Mure, to the place he and Jiraiya had asked to be prepared for her._

"She never reached Port Mure!" he shouted.

_Because she never went there. He let her choose. And she chose Konoha._

Yuji flinched in the outside world, his fists clenching. Would she have really…?

_Kato Eiko was a geisha with a dead four-year-old daughter, just buried, and on a mission to forget her past by fleeing to Konoha. I helped her pack up the life we created for her and watched her ride on a cart to the north, towards Konoha._

Kurama had been right, sort of.

_And I never saw her again. She made it to Konoha, I know that, but by the time I got there, months later, she wasn't there anymore. I didn't try to find out where she went. I'm sorry. I asked Takashi once, and he told me to leave it alone, that he and the Hokage were handling it._

Her voice was growing stronger. He caught the scuff of her footsteps as she circled him.

"And that's it? You left it?"

"Takashi is my brother. I let him have his secrets, sometimes. A big sister's job is to know when not to pry."

He spun again and finally she was standing there, though translucent and with holes in her apparition, great gouges of nothingness through her throat, torso, and across her face.

"And you're butting in now?" he asked impatiently.

"You're my nephew," she said simply. "Takashi always watched over Tenzou, got to be fatherly with him between their missions, but I could see the hole where she and you were missing. I don't want you to do something you'll regret. Either of you."

"Is she still alive?"

The obviously Yamanaka woman shook her head, and ice creaked into existence all over the lobby surfaces, reflecting his terror, until she spoke. "I'm not sure. It's hard to tell with him. I think she is, but I can't promise. I'm not in the village with Takashi often, so I can't say if he's left any clues where she might be or if he's keeping an eye on her. Either way, knowing him, only Tsunade-sama knows. He can't let his clan head know about her. We all know that Danzou can't be trusted with any kind of hold on you, considering." Yuji felt that familiar, acidic swoop of guilt at her knowing eyes.

She was less transparent now, but the gouges in her weren't filling in. Kurama had definitely inflicted some lasting damage.

"Why are you in here? Why risk it?"

The remaining half of her mouth quirked up at the corner. "To speak in private. To make sure you listened. I couldn't be sure of speaking to you and not him"—she waved a hand in Kurama's direction—"unless I was in here. For all that I'm your aunt, I don't know you well enough to tell who's looking out at me through your eyes."

"What's your name?"

"Auntie Arisa to you, boyo. Give me your hands."

He blinked at her.

"Before they decide you've destroyed me with your evil bijuu, kid." She shook her palms before him.

Casting a look at Kyuubi, he gingerly set his hands in hers, palms meeting. She gripped him tightly and spun him so his back was to her front in an old dance move, their hands now before them, wrists crossed. She let go briefly to uncross them as Kurama bellowed and started towards them.

She slid her forearms into his, and he found his hands moving without his control outside. They formed a seal with his fingers, and suddenly she was gone, his arms dropping limply.

* * *

Itachi started breathing again when Yuji's hands formed the Yamanaka release seal and Monkey's body stirred in Shisui's arms. She patted Shisui's forearm until he let her stand on her own.

Whatever she had done had riled the Kyuubi again, but, with a stern expression, Yuji subdued the raging chakra haloing his body almost concentrated enough to be visible to those without doujutsu.

He left that arm in the water though.

"Itachi," he shouted over the distance separating them, "you Hokage yet?"

That tone… Nearly rolling his eyes, Itachi shook his head once.

"Gods, you're so slow! I want you to order this asshole to tell me where she is!"

"You know I don't have the authority to do that. It's not part of the bargain Kurama struck with Tsunade-sama and it's not within the parameters of this mission."

"I'm making it part of the mission!"

Itachi just waited.

Yuji bared his teeth. "Why do you all have to be such assholes about this? I just want to see her, to know that she's okay!"

"Do you really think this is the best time for that? Do you want this revealed when we're preparing to confront someone who managed to nearly destroy Konoha the day you were born, along with all the followers he's gained over the years?"

"Yes! What if this asshole doesn't live through that confrontation? Am I supposed to survive the battle without a way to get the knowledge because he died?"

"Do you really think he wouldn't have informed Tsunade-sama?"

Yuji cocked his head and almost sneered. "I don't know; does Takashi consider her as good a Hokage as the geezer and my sperm donor? If he doesn't, he might not have told her."

Itachi just shook his head. "ANBU is the hand of the Hokage and plays no favourites. Are you going to let him surface anytime soon?" He spared a glance at Hinata and Neji again, neither of whom had looked concerned about Rat yet. Hinata subtly made the hand sign for water and breath, which reassured Itachi.

Yuji smirked and shook his head. "No. If he's not going to fill me in about my mom, then he doesn't get a say in how this is going to play out." He waved a hand at his platform. "You can come back and sit since we all know your little seal from the toads really isn't going to work. Let's hash out how this is going to go from here on out."

Itachi nodded to his team, holding Hatake's burning stare until the older man shrugged and stood on the edge of the platform, dismissing some of his hounds.

"Sorry about Kurama nabbing you all," Yuji said to the rest of the team. "I really had no idea until ten minutes ago. I was kind of down for the count after having a run in with the Shinigami. He's a really touchy host; I don't recommend having tea with him."

"So you did break the Shiki Fūjin?" Itachi asked.

"Aren't you well informed," Yuji snarked, looking peeved.

"Taking the mask was not subtle. You should have left a copy; that would have slowed my investigation down."

Yuji huffed. "Fine, then I will next time!"

Shisui relaxed enough to chuckle stiffly. "So, Itachi, what does our Godaime want to happen?"

Itachi gestured to Yuji. "He bargained for leniency by giving us leverage over Orochimaru."

"What? How?"

Yuji retrieved a scroll and tossed it to Itachi. "Orochimaru's hands. The Shinigami kind of threw them up. Your Sandaime sealed them away somehow, along with himself."

"Just like Hiruzen-sama," rasped Dog, sounding proud. Hatake nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I let him go on to the afterlife, whatever it is. He was stuck in the Shinigami's stomach too."

That got some disturbed rumblings, and Itachi worked to keep his unease off his face. The Sandaime had not made his home life easy, but he had paved the way for the ray of hope Itachi was aiming for with all his strength. He had no wish for the old man to suffer.

"Anyway, shall we plan part two?" Yuji glanced back to Itachi, who nodded.

* * *

_He is a funny boy, your son,_ Arisa sent.

Takashi amused himself by luring an octopus out from within a crevice with a watery tendril under a henge as the chakra arm yanked him to and fro with its grip on his ankle. _He always was. Drove Tenzou mad sometimes._

_I can see that. Not stupid though, obviously. He's handed over Orochimaru's hands. We're to lure in Orange Mask and destroy him. Yuji and Kyuubi will act as bait._

_Shisui is our lynchpin?_

_Yes, that's what Itachi suggested. Tsunade-sama probably wants to take him alive to interrogate him. Your son is insisting that Kyuubi won't let Itachi off the hook until his soul is ripped to shreds._

_Hatake?_ Takashi asked

_You know how good his poker face can be._

_And I know you._

_Flatterer. Fine, he's obviously anxious. Your son is insisting that they need to figure out some way of getting the Nibi back from Orange Mask. He really seems to believe the bijuu are gods…_

_It's not as uncommon as you would think. A few monks passed through the village, telling stories that made the bijuu seem that way. They're particularly fond of casting the Yonbi in a positive light, but perhaps that's not surprising given the number of volcanoes in southern Fire and Tea._

_Itachi's trying to talk him down. Hatake is being mocking. I think they're going to stay at odds for a while. Your son's apology and his excuse of his ignorance aren't going to cut it._

_No._ Takashi glanced up at the chakra arm as it yanked him through the water again, dipping him towards the rocks on the seafloor as his speed increased despite the drag. He was using chakra to offset the pressure, but his ears were still going to ache when he finally was allowed back on the surface. _How are they going to counter Orange Mask sucking up Yuji again?_

_Hang on._

There was silence for a few minutes, and the way Kyuubi was dragging him became absentminded, his attention perhaps elsewhere.

_They won't sign with the toads. He's angry about them helping to hunt him down and is insisting he's got his own methods and that's part of why he didn't notice that Kyuubi managed to capture us for so long._

_Has he actually tested these methods?_

_He's being evasive. I would say that he hasn't done much if any testing. I hope he lets you up soon. You're pushing the boundaries of using this technique without expending too much chakra with all your moving around._

_It's not intentional,_ he thought dryly.

_They're suggesting Hatake stick close to him, in case he figures out how to use his eye to remove things from the pocket dimension._

_A lot of faith in an untested technique._

_It's Hatake Kakashi._

_True._ The band of warmth around his ankle evaporated. Glancing up, he saw that the chakra arm was gone as though it hadn't been keeping him down here for the better part of an hour. He considered staying down there out of spite, just to worry the boy, but he knew it would be a futile effort. Instead, he slowly jetted himself towards the surface, monitoring himself carefully for ill effects from rising too quickly.

When he, at last, levered himself onto the ocean's surface, he found that Hinata and Neji were sparring on the waves, obviously preparing for the coming battle after so long in confinement, though, oddly, the girl's nose was wrinkled. Hatake and Shisui stepped off the platform to face off as well, Sharingan exposed.

Yuji was ignoring him, badly.

Takashi decided it was time to step up and be the disciplinarian. He had usually let Hiromi's punishments be the start and then had added his own on top, but Hiromi wasn't here to soften the brat up.

Subtly, he tested the stabilizing seals on the platform. Water's motion was completely accounted for and channeled back into the medium, the seal generating a cancelling wave with the incoming force.

It was interesting and impressive, but it wasn't surprising given whom Yuji had been studying with.

"I have heard that you met the Yondaime."

Yuji shot him a look. "And I heard she took the name Eiko."

Arisa. "And then you met Uzumaki Kushina. Was she the badass you always claimed?"

"I didn't give them a chance to try to show me. Got them to stand around and talk instead. I had lots of questions for them."

"About how to do a better job confining the Kyuubi to prevent him from burning down more mountains and wrecking more farms?"

The guilt was palpable. "You'd think you guys in Konoha would be happier about me exposing Kumo's jinchuuriki for you. She was close enough to kill the Fire Lord."

"Ah, so we should be pleased because you drove her off in such a way that Konoha was sued for massive damages. Of course. The village stood by you, protected you, and you ran off to pursue the most reckless course to find Hiromi. And how fruitful was that?"

Yuji scowled at him.

"Compliance would have gotten you closer, at least for a little while. She probably chose Konoha because she knew you would be going there. Your rebellion only made you miss her when her last choice as your mother was to place herself where you would find her."

His son's fists clenched and fire burned in his eyes. "Where is she now?"

Takashi shook his head. "No. You betrayed everything I hold dear. I cannot trust you or the one you claim as your partner. I cannot trust you with that information." He turned away so he wouldn't have to see the shocked pain. Administering punishment had always been a battle between sympathy and the need to create boundaries. For someone with so much power, there had to be mental boundaries to keep him in check.

Guilt had always been the best leash.

* * *

Yuji came awake with a start, alone on his platform. The Konoha shinobi were on their own barge, the Dog ANBU the one currently standing watch.

_Anything?_

**_They kept away. Are you prepared for what we may have to do?_ **

_We've got Shisui on our side for now though._

**_For now._ **

_Yeah, you kind of killed any chance we had of getting him to really be on our side when you nabbed him._ Yuji gripped the lump of coral, its divots now dark with compressed seals. _I'm not sure it will work._

**_Which?_ **

_Both,_ Yuji admitted. _I mean, sure, we've tested this part a little bit, but the cut off is going to be pretty dramatic. It's a clone, and it survived being sent off in the body scroll, but there's a bit more of a tether with this since you're linked to the portion in me._

Kurama snorted. **_You are worrying overmuch. One half, even with you as the source instead of this seal, is the same as the other. No, the greater worry is that we will not be able to locate Nibi. If, as Itachi claimed and as my bunshin witnessed, Matatabi was burning him as he used his incorporeality technique, it's unlikely he left him unbound within the dimension. We have the Juubi's body, but there are other items that can contain us, as you well know._**

_Yeah. We'll have to count on your ability to sniff him out._

**_We shall see._ **

He pulled out the chakra sucker that had been on Takashi. The Konoha ninja had destroyed the other seals, but he had kept this one. Working carefully, he drafted a small chakra mask bubble seal and a small physical protection barrier inside it. Only the bubble seal would be fed by Takashi's chakra. He placed the sucker seal inside the bounds of the inactive physical barrier and linked it up. Once the bubble was doing its job, he took off the coral necklace and placed it inside, but kept his hand on it.

Kurama's chakra flowed down his arm in a torrent, into the stone.

_Not too much! Or you won't have enough to pull the other bijuu out._

**_I will have enough._** The flow cut off, and the orange glow faded into the coral. Yuji pulled his hand back, and the physical barrier enabled, fed by Kyuubi's chakra.

_Bon voyage,_ Yuji chirped as he casually nudging the whole kit off the edge while taking a piss to mask the motion from Dog.

* * *

Yuji spun slowly, staring at the choppy seas, so empty except for some sails on the horizon to the north around Kikai Island, little fishing ketches most likely. The warm breeze played with his clothes and his hair, but it couldn't ease the cold inside him.

His hands were shaking.

Heck, all his limbs were shaking.

He stood on top of a large chain seal pattern, ready for Kurama to activate it. In his hands was his body seal. Itachi, Shisui, and Kakashi crouched nearby, ready. It felt wrong to have them so close and battle ready.

There was no bubble seal right now, just the masking seal on his own body, which he was hesitating over deactivating.

**_Coward. Just do it._ **

He ignored Kurama. Instead, he swallowed and began to roughly sing as the whole of Kirigishi Village had for solemn ceremonies—funerals, official departures, the end of the school year, and the like—his voice cracking and his fingers tightening convulsively around the body scroll.

"It's our time to go now

Haul away your anchor

Haul away your anchor

It's our sailing time"

From the looks the ninja were giving him, he was supposed to be embarrassed for doing something inappropriate, but fuck them. This was tradition.

Last time, this had been over so fast. Orange Mask had nabbed him. Only the toads had saved him, and he couldn't trust them this time.

"Get some sail upon her

Haul away your halyards

Haul away your halyards

It's our sailing time

Get her on her course now

Haul away your foresheets

haul away your foresheets

It's our sailing time"

He took a deep breath and forced himself to unfurl the body scroll and place his hand over Nagato's mark.

"Waves are rolling under

Haul away o'er shallows

Haul away o'er shallows

On the evening tide"

Something in him lurched when he could have sworn Rat was singing too, softly, from where he was keeping watch with Hinata a little ways to the north, voice carried on the wind. Hinata didn't give any indication that she heard it though.

"When my days are over

Haul away for pure seas

Haul away for pure seas

Gods be by my side"

He had to trust in the Uchiha, in Kurama, and in his reflexes. He shoved his own chakra into the summoning and then dispelled his chakra mask.

"It's our time to go now

Haul away your anchor

Haul away your anchor

It's our sailing time"

**_Finally!_** Kurama took over, and Yuji was shoved back into the lobby. Nagato appeared in the smoke, and, with a glance full of meaning, nodded, and summoned the statue.

The ocean bucked and heaved, water rushing away as the statue displaced it and began to rise out of the sea floor. Those disgusting eyes were fixed on Kurama as he activated the chain seal and sent the ends spearing into that awful maw.

* * *

"Nothing yet," Hinata mumbled again. Rat had fallen silent beside her, his mask somehow appearing out of place on his face after hearing him and Yuji singing. It had rattled her; singing wasn't done. And on the eve of such an uncertain fight, how could they do it?

Behind her, despite the distance, she could smell cinnamon, citrus, and honey.

* * *

Watching the bijuu being drawn out by the chains was just as gross this time around.

_Shichibi. Chōmei. Rakkī Sebun Chōmei. Shichibi._ The chains hummed.

Instead of oozing, this particular bijuu creaked, snapped, and groaned. Its exoskeleton cracked or caved in as the chains dragged its too-wide shoulders out the statue's mouth. Its wings folded in many places, looking torn and snapped.

It was a fighter though. One by one, it got its arms out of the maw, past the teeth, and began to struggle to get free as well.

Its head finally slipped out, and it fell into the ocean with a huge splash that sent waves rolling over the shield seals on Yuji's platform. Kurama towed Chōmei back to the surface with a huff. **"Useless as always without your wings. I liked you better as a larva."**

Chakra blazed, and those wings began to snap back straight. **_Kurama?_** Like during that fight with Sanbi, Shichibi's voice echoed in the lobby.

**"Yes. Who else would be strong enough to rescue you weaklings? You think Gyūki would bother?"**

**_Gyūki was always much kinder than you are._ **

Kurama snorted. **"Kind? But nowhere near as competent. If he were truly kind, he would have come for you, no matter whom he is trapped within or how well he gets along with that pathetic ant. However, if you truly wish to be rescued by him, I'm sure I can figure out how to put you back."**

The Shichibi's wings buzzed, raising a spray of seawater, and the beast limped into the air. **"How like you. You perform an act of good and spoil it with your attitude."**

**"Good? Good for you. Good for me—you will cause trouble for the ninja, just as I wanted."**

The Shichibi made a somehow derogatory buzz. **"These ones surrounding you? I cannot believe they coerced you or that you consider them a threat. Are you working with them, then?"**

Kurama waved Yuji's hand dismissively, sneering. **"Of course, you did not ever bother finding out who killed your captor and then took you in turn. Surely you had time to compare notes with all our brethren in there. Too distressed by being so closely melded?"**

**"You should know—since you appear to be equally trapped in a brat—that when the host is unconscious it is harder to get information."**

**"Are you saying that none of your hosts fought? That they were all taken from behind?"**

The Shichibi clicked something in its complicated jaws. **"You know they all look the same."**

Kurama laughed. **"They do. Their funny pelts don't do as much as they believe. But, no, the peons here are not part of the same group, though if you do get caught by them, you are more pathetic than I thought you were. But the one who had them capture you and put you in the Juubi's body is coming. If you want to flee unscathed, leave some of your chakra here with me to confuse his pursuit."**

Chōmei hovered lower in the air, inspecting their body. **"You are not insisting I stay and fight?"**

**"You were pathetic last time. Go. You'll just be in the way, swooping all over, getting in the line of fire."**

**"Very well. I can give you some of my luck."**

* * *

Itachi studied the Shichibi that had just been drawn forth from the statue standing on the seafloor and wondered what Taki-nin would do if they were here to witness this. Their jinchuuriki was dead, but here was their bijuu hovering in the sky, talking down to Yuji wreathed in Kurama's chakra.

Tsunade-sama had given him orders on how to handle the bijuu, ones that reflected what she had announced at the meeting with the other Kage.

Itachi hadn't passed those orders along to the team he had taken control of from Hatake-san. It was likely that the man suspected Itachi was keeping things back, but he hadn't asked him, just giving him a long look and a shrug.

Konoha had held most of the bijuu before. The Shodaime had distributed them and sown the seeds of this whole situation.

Itachi wasn't certain repossessing the bijuu and restarting the cycle was a good idea, now that the opportunity lay within his grasp. He also wasn't certain that letting the bijuu roam freely was a good plan… Shisui, with eyes capable of altering thoughts, stood within shouting distance, but Itachi held his tongue.

His cousin was strong, but his ability was a finite resource. The real target should be coming.

He would probably regret this later.

The enormous beetle transferred some chakra to Kurama and then rose higher in the air to hover far out of reach of most long-range jutsu. Itachi glanced at Hinata and Rat, confirming from Rat's steady "Waiting" hand sign that neither of them had detected anything yet. Neji's radio stayed silent as well.

All of them ringed Yuji's platform, each focusing on a certain sector, except for Hatake, who had placed himself behind Yuji's back. It was a vaguely threatening position unless you could see Kyuubi's chakra: then the threat was reversed. Itachi hadn't challenged Hatake-san about the matter. He trusted the jounin's sense: as a former ANBU agent, Hatake had more experience going on high-profile guarding missions than Itachi did. He also suspected that despite Hatake's lack of forgiveness about Kyuubi's abduction of his team, the man was still conflicted about what to do about Yuji's claim to being Minato's son.

_This is a shitty thing we're doing to him,_ Monkey's feminine mental voice brushed delicately through his thoughts.

Itachi kept his grimace off his face, but he got the sense from Monkey that his mental voice had given him away. He thought about how she shouldn't be wasting chakra talking to him this way.

_I need to practice. Clans usually share traits of a mental space: comes from a shared upbringing._

He speculated that if it were Obito, having broken so far from his previous pattern, he was unlikely to share any characteristics with Itachi or Shisui anymore.

_You might be surprised. Take the kid for instance: he has similar patterns to Takashi and Mae here and there. They shaped him. Despite how much he's diverged, the root patterns are still there._

Itachi clicked on his radio. "Monkey."

"Understood."

* * *

_Saiken. Rokubi. Blubbery One. His Acidic Sliminess._ Even the humming chains managed to make those last two sound sarcastic.

White slime began running over the statue's lips and dripped down his chin, hissing and bubbling, even as the orange chain dragged a larger white mass to press through the gap between the statue's teeth.

A series of thumps began to echo in the lobby. Frowning, Yuji wandered around, trying to find the source.

_Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump! Ba-thump! Ba-thump!_

Kurama cracked an eye open and looked down at him. His hackles began to rise, and his lips lifted to show off his teeth. **"Zetsu is heading towards us."**

Yuji finally realized what the noise was: the nervous pounding of his heart. "How long?"

**"I will make it."** Kurama sounded very stubborn rather than certain.

* * *

"Nothing," Hinata said into the radio at Itachi's prompting, trembling at the four suns nearly blinding her chakra sight. A fifth was beginning to emerge. 360-degree vision with no equivalent to sunglasses was not pleasant at the moment.

Kakashi-sensei's voice suddenly crackled over the radio. "The fourth bijuu is half extracted. The jinchuuriki has stopped pulling though."

Hinata grimaced as understanding hit her. "Ichibi. Kyuubi has called him 'the ballsack' to me."

"Ah, of course." Sasuke's brother sounded amused.

* * *

**"Kurama!"** Saiken sounded offended. **"Pull him out! Taunting him is childish!"**

Ku-man, as expected, did not oblige him or Shukaku. Instead, he chuckled darkly. **"Shall I make the Gedō Mazō shut its jaws, oh fearsome Ichibi? It would be slimming, I'm sure, to be so bisected."**

Nagato made a hand gesture, and Shukaku shrieked as those jaws began to close.

**"Kurama!"** Chōmei swooped threateningly at Yuji's head, but Kurama didn't even flinch; he just shot out a stretchy arm to bat her away.

Rolling his eyes, Yuji flicked Kurama's leg over his shoulder from where he was leaning against it. "Really? Do we really have time for this?"

Kurama just grinned down at him in response. **"We wouldn't want Orange Mask to feel as though he's arrived too late, would we? Best to still be in progress."**

Yuji shook his head in the face of such pathetically transparent "logic", trying to smile over the deafening tattoo of his panicked heartbeat.

**"Flee if you do not wish to be recaptured, you pathetic cretins!"** Kurama sounded so threatening that Chōmei actually buzzed out of striking range, mandibles clicking in distress. The Rokubi sank beneath the waves, and bubbles rose to disturb the surface as he jetted himself out to sea. The Gobi glared at Kurama one last time, snorted, and galloped off, the waves roiling in its wake. The Shichibi circled one last time before flying off after Kokuō. Kurama looked down at Yuji. **"Are you certain, boy? We could leave him very easily. Both of them, really."**

Clenching his teeth, Yuji shook his head, trying to pretend his hands weren't shaking with adrenaline. "We try for Nibi."

Kurama gave him a long look, so many different emotions roiling in those enormous eyes. The lids dropped and a sigh escaped his body in the real world as the space to Nagato's left began to unflush and the ninja began to shout.

Shisui, guarding Nagato as the obvious target since he was the key to summoning the Juubi's container, blurred as he began to spin towards the attack, Hinata and Neji's voices giving warning through the radio. He was knocked to his knees and slightly through the surface of the ocean by a whiplike snap of one of Kurama's chakra arms.

Yuji fixated on that gloved hand reaching towards Nagato's shoulder and forced himself not to flinch as Kurama's chakra arm raced through the space separating Yuji's body from Nagato's. The ninja were slightly off stride from Kurama's attack upon Shisui and were gathering themselves for a counter.

Kurama's eyes opened and met his across the lobby, and Yuji knew that even now Kurama could shove Nagato clear of Orange Mask with a chakra arm as the flushing jutsu began to work, Hatake Kakashi rushing forward to try to prevent it with Shisui off stride. The jounin would be too late, but Kurama wouldn't, not if he decided to act now.

The fox nodded, and the world dissolved into the vortex of black, the chakra link between him and Nagato drawing them along for the ride.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry in advance.
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but the natural divide fell at the lower word count end of things. Hopefully you won't think me too evil for ending where I did. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any comments!

Itachi gaped momentarily as Nagato and then Yuji were sucked into the vortex, chakra chains and all, and the huge statue went with them, connected as they were by chakra. Hatake-san pulled back from grabbing Yuji or Nagato at the last moment, unwilling to get dragged along and out of the fight. Instead, he landed a solid blow on Orange Mask the moment the vortex blipped out, the incorporeality technique somehow not in play. The man was knocked flying back, skidding on the waves. Hatake pursued, his Sharingan exposed, but he ducked at Shisui's shout.

Itachi's cousin flashed into Orange Mask's line of sight, having recovered from Kyuubi's attack. Just as they had planned, Shisui's Mangekyou was active.

Orange Mask froze.

They had had long discussions yesterday about the best way to utilize Kotoamatsukami. In the heat of battle, there simply wasn't time for Shisui to weave a subtle series of false memories to bring Orange Mask to heel. Instead, the power of outright command was a better bet. But what that command should be… There was no way to know just how canny Orange Mask was, but if the command was too nebulous, loopholes could be used.

So they had debated. "Protect Konoha" had been Itachi's suggestion, but it was ruled too vague. Shimura Takashi-san had been the one to knock that one down, pointing out that his relative fully believed he was obeying that command and yet managed to cause much damage to the Hokage's cause. "Freeze" was thought to be too short term, and genjutsu could still be used without moving.

"Obey the Konoha team" was eventually what they had settled on, and Shisui shouted it. It would be useful enough after the battle was over, and it would hopefully prevent Yuji or Kurama from taking advantage of it. Not that that mattered now that they had allowed themselves to be sucked up, but, well, they could now order Orange Mask to retrieve Yuji.

Itachi grimaced. Why had the boy gone and done that? He had known the team's plan to take control of Orange Mask. Why go in like that?

"Shisui?" Itachi called to his cousin as he closed the distance to him.

Shisui was pressing a hand over his left eye, his stance drooping with exhaustion. Blood ran down his cheek. "I'm okay. It's fine." He waved Itachi off towards Orange Mask as Itachi gripped Shisui's shoulder. Hatake-san was yanking that mask off their captive, having ordered him to freeze, a pair of Yuji's seals for captives in his hand. Itachi rushed forward, ready to back Hatake-san up when the man faltered.

And he did falter, but only slightly, as an aged version of Uchiha Obito's face, half ruined, was revealed.

Hinata screamed suddenly, and Neji shouted, "Shisui!"

Itachi whipped around, only to find a man-shaped creature, half black and half white, rising up behind his cousin and then leering over his shoulder with strange round golden eyes.

There were black wooden spears protruding from Shisui's forehead and chest, only that creature's white arm keeping Shisui upright as blood began to stain his clothes and trickle down along his nose.

It was as if everything slowed to a crawl.

Itachi's throat hurt.

He felt so cold.

His eyes were telling him lies, such terrible lies.

Someone was howling, an animal noise of rage.

He was moving. He knew he was, but somehow he just wasn't aware of actually doing the moving.

His eyes burned, but he couldn't stop staring at the lie they were telling him.

He wasn't crying, no tears blurred the lie, but something trickled down his face over his right cheek.

Black flames engulfed that leering two-tone grin. And two voices began to scream.

* * *

As soon as they landed in the strange dark dimension, Nagato's body took off running, Kurama in him off to hunt down Nekomata.

Kurama in Yuji focused on the statue again.

Chains rattled, humming, dragging the tanuki that much closer to freedom from the maw he was trapped halfway in.

Chains sang.

Shukaku shrieked as the statue's teeth ripped through sand-formed fur and skin, marking the Ichibi's hide before his hips emerged, his tail following limply as the beast crashed upon the top of one of the many rectangular prisms that made up the gloomy landscape.

The chains dispersed into chakra wisps as Kurama shut down the seal and stowed it. **"You should be grateful, ballsack. You seem to be intact down there despite the teeth."**

The tanuki snarled at him.

**"You can repay a small part of the debt you owe me by making yourself useful. Do you detect Matatabi here?"**

**"Your senses are almost as good. You know he's not here."**

Yuji took back control of his body and cursed. "Not here!"

**_Hush._** **"You know what is at stake here, Shukaku. I can get out. You, on the other hand, cannot. I am more than willing to leave you here for eternity, which it will be since this dimension belongs to that Uchiha and he will soon be dead."**

The tanuki bared his teeth, his tail thrashing.

**"Make yourself useful and find me some clues."** Kurama pointed in the opposite direction Nagato's body had run off in.

With a growl, the tanuki summoned a wind and let parts of his form break off as sand into the gale. He did this three more times, once for each cardinal direction, though how he had decided which way was north was beyond Yuji. The last wind dissolved the last of his body and swept it away.

"Can you really not sense Matatabi?" Yuji asked Kurama in the lobby.

**"There are traces of him,"** the Kyuubi replied, his eyes focused on a far wall instead of his host. **"Dispersed traces of his chakra and his will. If there is a concentrated source, it is being masked somehow."** The fox's lips curled back, revealing his teeth. **"If there is no will, no hatred, I cannot pinpoint him. The ballsack is more tethered to the physical world; he should be able to find him if he is here."**

"And what if Orange Mask killed Matatabi? What then?"

Kurama grimaced. **"The best we can do is capture enough of his dispersed chakra and hope we have the greater part of it with us when we return to our own plane. Matatabi will regenerate from the largest concentration still remaining, assuming he was killed well enough in this plane that most of him moved on to the realms of death. If instead he is trapped within a death plane only linked to this dimension, he may never come again to our realm if we do not manage to find our way back here to free him then."**

"Great. Do you figure Shukaku will come through?"

Kurama shrugged. **"The ballsack is normally useless. I would rather leave him here to rot. I am searching as well in the other body, but this dimension is not small."**

Yuji nodded with a grimace and pulled out a scroll to summon some chalk. "Okay. Then I'll set up some quick defences in this area. I'm assuming that this area is where anything following us will come through, corresponding with where we were on our earth. Can't count on Konoha to keep Orange Mask in their grasp, can we?"

* * *

It was as if the whole world went mad the moment the spike emerged from the front of Shisui's chest. Hinata screamed as the scent of something like tar but lighter, sweeter, something heady, reached her. Gasoline?

Itachi howled, his chakra darkening and frothing in a way she had never seen before. It swirled behind his eyes and darkened even further, the hue heading towards dark blue. Black streaks developed in it behind his right eye, and suddenly there were black flames engulfing the grinning face of the two-toned creature behind Shisui's slumping corpse.

Beside her, Rat cursed fluently like a fishmonger and raced through handseals, which caused three watery jets to scythe through the black spears impaling Shisui and the white arm holding him up simultaneously and then watery tendrils to yank Shisui's corpse below the ocean's surface and towards them.

Gulping, Hinata fell into Jyuuken stance, ready to defend Sasuke's cousin's corpse when Itachi's black flames failed. As expected, the two-tone creature—Zetsu, she realized belatedly, remembering from her briefing—sank beneath the waves to quench the flames. But they just kept on burning, even beginning to consume the bubbles streaming back to the surface and burning on the top of the waves.

The white creature burned quickly, gouts of bubbles erupting from their mouth, and the black half seemed to drain from its half, dispersing into the ocean—leaving its half white to become ashes with the original white half. But the smell of gasoline continued to linger, coating the inside of Hinata's mouth.

Itachi collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath around wounded noises.

All around, the other members of the team were rushing forward to help Itachi and Kakashi-sensei with their captive. Rat had dragged Shisui's corpse up over his shoulder out of the water and was making his way forward as well, casting a quick glance back towards her as Hinata hesitated.

Something was wrong. That smell…

In the distance she could still see Gobi galloping over the waves, heading southeast. The other two bijuu were beyond the limits of her range.

Had this really all happened in only seconds?

Shisui was supposed to have made all this so easy, and now he was meat leaking blood all over Rat's armour, his green chakra steaming off him as though it had never flowed through his body.

Monkey reached Itachi and knelt at his side, slinging his arm over her shoulders before hauling him to his feet, her free hand holding his jaw to prevent his head from lolling. That dark chakra in his right eye had faded, but there was still such wrath and despair in what was circulating in his head.

Dog and Neji were helping Kakashi-sensei secure the prisoner, who was dully obeying their orders. At least Shisui's final jutsu was holding.

* * *

Shukaku was far more effective than Kurama gave him credit for.

Yuji arched an eyebrow at the large jug nestled in the crevice between two rectangular prisms. It was as tall as his waist at the very least with a wooden stopper and a white rope as thick around as his forearm tied just under its rim. He spared a glance at Shukaku, who was lounging on the opposite plateau, peering down at it. "Any idea what it is?"

The tanuki huffed hard enough to make him stagger back a few steps. **"I don't care."**

Kurama took charge and made Yuji's body bounce from side to side down the crevice to stop level with the jug. This new perspective revealed the lightning character painted upon one side.

"What is it?" Yuji asked aloud.

**_It is familiar,_** Kurama admitted slowly. **_I cannot feel any will from it, though there is a lot of Nibi's residue around the rim. How it is hidden is suspicious as well._** Kurama pushed chakra out and took a sniff. **_It is old. Very old. Something this old should be dust._**

"How old are we talking here? Something from the Warring Clans period? From the Rotting Plague Age?"

**_Older._ **

Shukaku chuckled. **"Very old: there isn't the stink of smog anywhere in it, so it must be from before they started burning coal and tar."**

**_The runt is correct. Also, the lattice of the script… Thunder and lightning. Yes, that seems very characteristic of a couple periods, ones where they were attempting to revive the style of the monks…_** Kurama stopped. **_I recognize this, unless it is a replica. I only saw it a couple times, for it was bulky and he did not like to carry it, but the Sage did keep it in his halls where he could keep anyone else from using it._**

"This was something the Sage used?"

**_Yes… I do not recall what he called it. But thunder and lightning—call and answer. It sealed away some very potent entities. He once sealed away a demon, or so the story went._ **

Yuji rolled his eyes and sighed. "Great. Another vessel we need to break open in order to free a bijuu that will probably release some seriously sinister shit. What kind of demon was this? The Juubi?"

**_No. Something from the stars, I think? It was before I was created, but it was years after the moon first rose. My source was not there, so he could only give me a secondhand accounting. The Sage did not speak of it, and I only heard the secondhand tale after he was gone. Mito once knew of tools of the Sage being hoarded by Kumo and being stolen by outlaws… The Shodaime consulted with her to see if there was something that could be done to neutralize them. A fan. A jug… Smaller than this one._ **

"Kumo huh?" Yuji grimaced. "Well, I don't think cracking this open is a good idea right now." He pulled out a storage seal and a brush set. Working quickly, he painted a containment net that would hopefully keep whatever evil shit that was inside this jug with Nibi from affecting the plug and then sealed the jug away with his other supplies. "We're obviously going to have to put a trip to Kumo somewhere on our ten-year to-do list. That'll be _fun_. How many times did Kumo almost steal you from Konoha again?"

**_Enough to make it obvious they were confident they could handle me. I have some evidence to the contrary, but they do have Hachibi still. He is… determined. Far weaker than I am, of course, but determined._ **

"Great."

Shukaku laughed spitefully.

* * *

Kakashi-sensei was speaking to their captive when Hinata finally reached them on Rat's heels, though the agent tactfully kept out of Itachi's line of sight. Not that their leader would have noticed. Monkey was still trying to bring him out of his grief and wrath-fuelled stupor.

Shaking off her awareness of that lingering smell, Hinata nodded in response to Neji-niisan's piercing look and stepped up behind her sensei to study their captive in the visible light spectrum. He had the look of an Uchiha around thirty years of age, though the right half of his face and neck was strangely distorted by something like wrinkles, though it also reminded her of the bark of some types of trees. The texture of his flesh on that half was strange; it moved stiffly along lines that were not quite right as he dully answered a question. His eyes were both the Sharingan, but Hinata could see that the chakra signature in the left eye was not his own. It was the right eye that matched Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan.

"The others cannot travel as quickly as Zetsu and I," he was saying, probably in response to a question about further reinforcements. "We left them behind."

"Why?" asked Kakashi-sensei, his tone hard.

"They had other jobs to occupy them. We work in pairs. Zetsu and I were strong enough to reclaim Nagato from the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and the Konoha squad pursuing him."

"Why did you believe that despite Uchiha Shisui's presence?"

"It is well known to us that Shisui's ability is limited to one use per day. There were three of us. The chance to add his eyes to our collection was also a factor."

The entire team paused at that. Hinata shot a frightened look at Itachi and then her cousin, who looked stern. Itachi seemed to be coming out of his fugue, his eyes filling with fresh horror at Obito's words.

"And what of the presence of Hatake Kakashi?" Itachi asked, his voice rough from abuse.

"The chance to reclaim my other eye was deemed a bonus as well, but Shisui's eyes were the greater prize, after reclaiming Nagato and the Kyuubi."

"Where is Madara?"

"Dead."

"How long ago?"

Obito paused a moment, and Hinata noted with a frown that there was something of a struggle going on inside him. Something in his chakra was strange. Narrowing her eye, she tried to pinpoint the source. He opened his mouth to reply, but something black slid over half his face and sent hooks into his skin. The black sheath forced his mouth shut again as that side's hand snapped out, reaching for Kakashi-sensei's face.

Instinctively, Hinata snapped her hand out to deflect the attack away from her sensei, her arm running into his own defensive move as he reared back out of range. Her sensei's arm made contact with Obito's, her own made contact with his, and suddenly the world was flushing away.

* * *

Kurama jerked Yuji's head back in the direction they had arrived in the dimension. **"Two of the Konoha ninja have arrived."** He coated Yuji's body in chakra and dropped to all fours, galloping over the gloomy landscape.

_Really? Which ones?_ Yuji asked as the fraction of Kurama in Nagato, which had similarly transformed the Akatsuki member, caught up to them, leaving Shukaku in the dust, though probably not for long given how the wind was picking up.

**_The Hyuuga girl and the Yondaime's student._ **

_Hinata and the Hatake guy?_

**_Yes._ **

_Huh. They said he might have the other eye of Orange Mask. You think Hatake came in here using that eye?_

**_That would be far too optimistic of me to consider. Besides, I have no great faith in the abilities of Konoha ninja._ **

Yuji rolled his eyes.

* * *

Itachi was so numb that the disappearance of two of his team failed to shock him the way it did the others. The black rind controlling Obito's motions was just another way the world was fucking with him today. Of course these Akatsuki fuckers would only be confident enough to face Shisui if they were certain they had a way around Kotoamatsukami. Itachi would not be cowed this time though.

The black creature made Obito charge forward through the gap Hinata and Kakashi had occupied, heading towards where Rat had Shisui's body. Kunai flashed, but they passed right through his body and the black rind with it. Rat was back-pedalling quickly, well aware of what Zetsu was after.

Neji sent a blast of force from behind, and great swathes of Obito's body vanished as the invisible impact made him phase out to avoid it. Itachi shouted to Rat and then made a quick sweep of his hand. Rat obligingly circled around the still approaching Obito, and Itachi too moved to intersect with Rat to put himself in Obito and Zetsu's field of vision.

Zetsu's gold eye widened with horror at whatever he saw in Itachi's eyes.

Lifting two fingers, Itachi cast the strongest genjutsu he could think of as reality around their opponent began to ripple into a vortex. The man disappeared into that vortex, but Itachi's left eye ached as something trickled from it. Despite the pain, he grinned gamely.

Wherever the possessed man landed, he would not be in fighting shape.

* * *

Hinata stared at this bleak world she had landed in. Nothing of the sky was familiar, and the land was mathematically precise and oppressive. Even the blue glow the land gave off barely offset the darkness of the sky. Even her vision could only detect a few entities in this wasteland. There was no trace of water or anything organic that wasn't rock within the range of her vision, except… "Sensei," she hissed urgently, setting herself back to back with him.

"Well," he said wryly, "isn't this a pleasant place to take a vacation. Quite… peaceful."

"Kyuubi, Ichibi, and Kyuubi inside Nagato are approaching us: Kyuubi and Nagato are on four legs and Ichibi is being carried by the wind." Said wind battered them both, nearly sending them staggering despite their set stance and the chakra affixing them to the ground. The sand ringed them on the ground, mounding up in a donut shape. Hinata had to resist the urge to bury her face in her sleeve or her armpit; anything would be better than the scent of burnt fruit.

The sand reared up, forming a dome over them that began to compress around them rapidly.

Grimacing because of the soreness of her shoulders from her long captivity, she began Hakkeshō Kaiten to keep a bubble of air around them as Kakashi-sensei seamlessly crouched down to keep out of her way and to take the time to charge Raikiri. When the familiar litany of chirps and screeches reached her through her weaving arms and spinning, she came to a quick stop, suppressing her inner ear's protests to the sudden halt to her rotation to be on his heels as he punched a hole in the sand prison.

"Shukaku, you moron!" Yuji shouted from just outside, muffled severely to her ears, but the sand wasn't reacting like a solid substance to Sensei's Raikiri blast. Instead, the prison flowed around them, keeping ahead of Sensei's charge so he never actually connected with the wall. The walls were getting closer all the time, but still there was distance between their skin and the sand.

Sensei abruptly switched tactics, running through handseals as Hinata again tried to gain them some literal breathing room with Kaiten. Two watery dragons burst from the ground, leaving Kakashi-sensei drooping. Hinata halted Kaiten in time to avoid interfering with their blasts, and they soaked the sand and briefly punched two holes in it to gain them fresher air.

"Oi! Shukaku, you asshole! Stop it! I'll let Kurama turn you into glass again!"

**"You wouldn't dare with these two in my gut."** The sand around them ground grain to grain to produce the voice, but there was still that resonance of bijuu to it.

There was no audible response, but Hinata saw two massive blasts of fire-type chakra impact the exterior of their prison and just managed to suppress her urge to duck as it baked the sand with such heat that the air in their prison began to warm. The chakra was so brilliant and intense that she almost missed the new arrival. "Sensei," she hissed, "Obito and the black creature have arrived here!" She pointed, not that he could see.

"We can't let them subdue Kyuubi or take back Nagato," Sensei said before he shouted. "Yuji! Orange Mask is here! Zetsu is controlling him!" But Hinata didn't see any reaction to their words, and no sound from outside was reaching them either. The sand prison's walls were thick. Sensei had used too much chakra with Raikiri and in creating water from nothing with the Suiryūdan jutsu. She could see how little he had left. Steeling herself, she focused chakra into the very centre of her left palm. She was not very good at Hakke Kūshō, but it was her best option. While she was frantically trying to determine the thinnest part of their prison's walls while keeping an eye on their primary target, she noticed a couple strange things.

The chakra of Zetsu, black as she saw it, was oozing deeper and deeper into Obito's system, particularly into his head and spine. That was obviously his method of possession.

Also, their chakra rippled in a familiar way. Sasuke-kun was very fond of genjutsu as a way of following in his brother and cousin's footsteps. Itachi had obviously struck just before they had escaped here. She relayed as much to Kakashi-sensei as the heat inside their prison rose to uncomfortable enough levels that she was beginning to feel her sweat bake beneath the hair she kept braided to partially cover her eyepatch.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"I've found a weaker point," she whispered. "It is near where Kyuubi-Nagato is pouring flames though."

He nodded and began running through handseals, his chakra twisting towards water type again, though much less this time. "I'll screen us."

Just as she released the vacuum blast, she spotted a clone budding off Yuji's Kyuubi. It managed one stride towards Obito and Zetsu by the time Sensei got his thin water shield over the hole she had punched through the sand and the oozing glass. "Obito is under genjutsu!" she shouted as the hole began to close again, the intense heat turning Sensei's water shield to steam.

And then a clawed chakra arm reached into the hole and ripped it open wider. **"Little Hyuuga child,"** Kurama said, one of his slitted eyes peering at her through the opening, **"it is pleasant to see that you have your priorities in the correct order. I was uncertain whether you would choose the right side after it was necessary to bump Uchiha Shisui out of the way. The boy was certain you had to be saved either way, but he is not wise and should not be heeded most of the time."** More chakra arms cracked the hole open wide enough to step out of without trouble, and those arms were somehow absorbing the Ichibi's chakra with contact. There was virulent purple will coming with the chakra, but Kyuubi's dark orange nature caged it easily, preventing it from affecting Nagato. **"Do come out. Unless you prefer it in there?"**

Sensei was very pale now, even given the pale glow of the landscape. She slung his arm over her shoulder and supported him out from the corpse of the sand prison, both of them shying away from the heat of the sand and the molten glass.

**"Itachi is quite disappointing if chasing Orange Mask here is the best he could accomplish. Is the genjutsu still in effect?"**

Hinata nodded wearily.

**"That's something. Makes this easier."**

The clone Yuji's Kurama had budded off was maybe forty metres from their opponents, and he was forming something above his mouth rapidly with dark and light balls of chakra. The orb, a bijuudama, was small, but snapped forward with laser focus and a wicked backspin, drilling right through Obito's head, leaving a gaping hole larger than a baseball behind where the eyes had been. Beside her, she felt Sensei choke.

Brain matter fell in chunks from the top of the tunnel through the skull to splatter against the bottom.

Kurama smirked. **"This is so much easier when he doesn't have the presence of mind to go incorporeal or duck."**

That smirk vanished when the black rind of Zetsu began shrieking.

* * *

Itachi beckoned Monkey over as Rat passed over Shisui's still-leaking corpse, ignoring her body language that shouted the futility of what he was going to ask her. He and Rat made Shisui stay on the ocean's surface so Monkey could examine him, turning him facedown when she gestured even as she gripped his wrist, looking for something she knew wouldn't be there with a gaping hole through his heart.

"Commander…" she said at last, not attempting to rasp at all. "I'm sorry. He died very quickly."

Yes, the head wound. He clasped Shisui's face between his hands and leaned in close, trying not to see that hole in the forehead. Those familiar eyes were blank, staring, only his regular Sharingan active, frozen in the last state before death. A wave of grief, black and terrible, pushed up from the centre of his chest, and he fought it for control of his face. It was trying to wrench his mouth around a stream of keening and gasping sobs rising up his throat he wasn't sure would ever stop. It was so hard to press them back, his eyes stinging and clouding over with tears.

The prickling ache of his heart was the worst, coming in waves in time with sucking breaths trying to twist into those wrenching sobs.

An open-mouthed grimace was the point his grief managed to force his face to before he fought it back. Slipping one hand behind Shisui's head, he used the other to push the lids closed.

When he finally mastered himself enough to stand, Dog was behind him, ready with a body scroll. He nodded, and the agent made Shisui vanish. Itachi made the scroll disappear when Dog solemnly offered it.

"What now?" Neji asked urgently, having obviously struggled to hold back while Itachi was busy with Shisui. "Hinata-sama and Hatake-san have been taken. We cannot pursue them or our target."

"We will have to wait on them."


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have no idea how relieved I am to be past this arc. Figuring out how this would end is part of the reason updates have been so slow. Black Zetsu is annoyingly mysterious.
> 
> Anyway, thanks to you all for sticking with me despite the delay! We're moving onto some newer territory, which should be interesting...
> 
> I've actually had several scenes in this chapter written for years. It's amazing to finally be able to put them into a completed chapter and post them. Some of you that are familiar with my other multi-chapter work, Karma's Web, will probably recognize someone in this chapter. A poorly hidden Easter Egg for those people. It was kind of interesting to see where this character ended up given the cascading effects of the Sandaime's actions way back in Chapter 1.

Kurama, the piece inside Yuji and the clone that had shot out the bijuudama, and Yang Kurama possessing Nagato and containing that awful shard of spite Shukaku watched with resonating satisfaction as the Konoha ninja were stunned speechless at the hole in the Uchiha shit stain's skull. That eye that had controlled him all those years ago after drawing him out of Kushina was a spray of cellular matter mixed with brain and skull fragments painting some colour across the landscape.

The mate to that hated eye was beside Yang Kurama holding Nagato, in the skull of the Yondaime's student, who looked far too shaken by this turn of events not to amplify Kurama's satisfaction. The Hyuuga girl, supporting the sagging man, was making that expression humans shared when they smelled something awful.

Kurama, as often happened when he was well pleased, would have panted and chittered like the creature whose form he had appropriated if he had had one less iota of pride. Worse still, he had to suppress even the thought of it or the boy would see it in the halls of his mind, the lobby as the boy called it.

It was very hard. He had been waiting a long time for this. While it was disappointing that it was not Madara whose skull he had opened to the light, he would take this.

That black creature though… That was not something he recognized. Now that it was not seamlessly possessing half of the Zetsu creature, he could tell that it was much stranger and more ominous than he had previously thought.

It was chakra and will, just like a bijuu.

And that meant killing it was not possible.

Death was just a scattering followed by a coalescence.

Gravity of Will at work.

It was pathetically clinging to the Uchiha's corpse, stretching itself across the beautiful tunnel in the head and trying to keep all that biomatter contained. Its rippling spasms and shrieks became worse when it realized the eyes, those precious Sharingan eyes, were gone.

Its golden eye fixed on Kurama, and it screamed, spidery tendrils abandoning the corpse leaking chakra and usefulness and rushing towards them, towards Kurama's clone that had spat out the blast. The clone released itself, chakra flowing back to Kurama in the boy.

It would try to take one of them. Possession was its main power, without a host, obviously.

Possession and immortality.

Its best targets were all clustered together: the ninja man with the Sharingan, the ninja girl with the Byakugan, and the heathen Uzumaki with those familiar eyes sheathed by Kurama's Yang chakra and will.

In the lobby, the boy's eyes snapped to him, the remnants of horror lingering in them as, behind the oncoming black abomination, the Uchiha's corpse was toppling to the ground of his own dimension.

"What is it?" the boy that Asura had dug his claws into asked.

**"Something rather like a bijuu,"** he admitted as outside Yang, realizing the threat, was grabbing the Konoha targets and turning to run.

The divide between Yang and the mixture of both halves of Kurama was never more clear to him: he would have destroyed both of those ninja creatures rather than let them continue existing as game pieces on this board.

"Kurama!" The boy's voice was sharp and clear. Somehow, the boy had seen. The child—his skin dark and his hair curly, so unlike how the fox knew the boy looked on the outside, beneath—stared him down with clear brown eyes. "The monks said there is beauty in mercy. I don't want to be a person too stained to deserve to find my mom. I don't want to be so full of guilt that I can't look her in the eye when I find her. Ninshū and the Sage, Kurama. Ninshū is the goal. Eyes on the prize. Think of how great it'll be to watch Hatake and Hinata abandon being ninja and use ninshū instead. You'll have forced them to see their whole lives up until that moment were wrong."

That…

That was actually very tempting. He grinned at the boy.

The boy grinned back, teeth so white in contrast.

**"Sometimes, boy, you actually do have good thoughts."**

The boy dramatically pressed the back of his hand to his forehead and staggered. "Ack! A compliment! A deathblow! The world is ending!"

Kurama knocked the boy to his ass with a swipe of one of his tails and rolled his eyes. " **We cannot kill this creature. Ever."**

"Where did he even come from? Some sludgy byproduct of making the Nine aside from the ugly statue?"

The fox shook his head. The Uchiha was still toppling, closer to horizontal than when he had last checked. Time was flowing. Discussion had to be quick. **"It can't be. The Sage was too insistent on making the nine of us family. Unless one of my siblings created it, which is unlikely because its nature is not close enough to any theirs to belong to just one of them, it must be something older."**

"You're saying it's some Juubi piece."

**"Possibly. Or some other abomination. Humans are very determined to push the boundaries of the possible without regard for the boundaries of the allowable or ethical."**

The boy nodded with a grimace. "Options?"

Kurama's hackles rose with distaste and his lips peeled back to reveal his teeth. **"How do your kind contain a bijuu."**

The boy, fortunately, was sensitive enough to realize just how awful it was the Kurama was saying this. "Oh, shit. Okay, well… Hmm. I don't actually know how to summon the Shinigami to lock shit away. You think Hatake does, since he was Namikaze's student?"

**"Possible, though I do know it as well,"** Kurama admitted. **"I am not, however, certain that the Shinigami can come here. Also, the side effects of that seal are not something that I can save us from. It is not like releasing victims, where the sacrifice is a physical wound. This would take your soul."** And while he was quite willing to allow that, especially if it meant that Asura would finally stop being a bloody parasite on likely souls of his bloodline coming back to the living world, there was no guarantee that Kurama would not yet again be dragged along.

Half of him had recently escaped from that realm of horrors. He had absolutely no desire to return.

"We could just leave him here, maybe?" the boy suggested as the Uchiha's corpse's arm hit the ground, the rest of his body slow moments from impacting as well. Yang Kurama was dragging himself and the ninja away; the black thing was reaching towards them, incredibly fast, but not fast enough.

**"And what if it has managed to secure a summoning contract the way you did?"** Kurama pointed out.

"For fuck's sake," the boy grumbled under his breath. "Okay, hmm… Oh! That jug thing!"

**"Do you know how to use it? Because I don't."**

"Shit. What about Nagato? Does he have any special skills? I mean, you used him to suck up Shukaku?"

The idea was repulsive, but it wouldn't do to discourage progress of rational thought in the boy out of hand. **"I am containing Shukaku's will within my own. It is uncomfortable, but I am much stronger than that ballsack. I am also sure I am stronger than this creature, if I must be. But if I falter at all, he will use his will upon Nagato. Those eyes are the key to the Juubi. To awaken the Rinnegan takes elements that are very difficult to align. If, as we suspect, this creature is a piece of the Juubi, it would be reasonable to speculate that it very much desires the return of Juubi given the actions of the group it was scouting for. The taste of its hatred towards me is very strong and peculiar: it doesn't wish for me to be gone and nothing. It wishes for me to be gone and something else."**

"So putting it in a position to take control of the Rinnegan in the unlikely event that you lost to its will would be bad, got it," the boy said, his tone only slightly mocking. He clutched at his hair in frustration. "Wait…"

Another thought? Today was a day for miracles. He kept that to himself as their moments for this conversation drained away.

"How different is your chakra from his? If he's got chakra like the Juubi's, could he make it like yours?"

**"Very different. I do not know if he is like the Juubi—I have never been in its presence—but the dividing of ten to nine was not something that can be replicated without the Rinnegan."**

"Awesome." The boy grinned. "How would you like to power a spirit net for the next thousand years?"

Kurama sighed as their time ran out.

* * *

Only chakra kept Hinata's neck from snapping as Kyuubi in Nagato grabbed her and Sensei with a chakra hand each and galloped away from the black creature shrieking and reaching for them with horrible tendrils.

The scent of gasoline would forever haunt her as that thing with its golden coin of an eye skittered in their wake, Kyuubi allowing her and Kakashi-sensei to pass within inches of its grasp at times as they fled before it.

Even as the terror pulsed through her with every close shave, she thought furiously.

The Kyuubi was … taunting it. It was made slightly more obvious as glimpses of the Rinnegan were made visible as the Kyuubi's shape over Nagato became translucent chakra.

Sensei was struggling to break from Kyuubi's grip, but the chakra hand's hold was very strong and Sensei, though recovering from those jutsu, was not anywhere near the level of chakra that would make a dent.

Besides, escaping might not be the best idea. She knew she was being dangled like a worm on a hook, even if the thing behind them was maybe a little too desperate and furious to tell just yet. She screamed with only half faked terror as she fell just inside its range for the briefest moment, only a push of her chakra keeping it from latching onto her neck.

Behind them, Yuji and Kurama were frantically drawing with chalk. The area covered by the four clones and Yuji easily had a circumference of four hundred metres.

That would be a very big seal. She could already see Kyuubi's orange chakra seeping into it right behind the scrape of chalk, but even with five scribes, the complexity of the lines and the empty space yet to be filled told Hinata that the distraction would have to be one strong enough to keep this creature from escaping or disrupting the plan for at least another ten minutes.

And inside the Kyuubi holding them, she could see the menacing pulse of the Ichibi's wrath.

And buried deep beneath that, a tiny corner, was Nagato's own simmering rage.

Kyuubi's will kept them caged and impotent, but he was managing so many fronts. Could he keep it up?

Well. The least she could do to ensure that was to make sure Kakashi-sensei didn't actually manage to break himself free without understanding what the overall plan was. Given how focused his eyes were on the black creature hunting them and his Sharingan was desperately spinning, she figured she'd better hurry before he tried something desperate.

Like trying to make his Mangekyou Sharingan power work when he was staring at the black creature.

* * *

Yuji tried to still the shaking of his hands as he scraped chalk over yet another piece of one of his shirts nailed down to straddle the gap between two separate square pyramids. Drawing a seal on this landscape sucked balls. He obviously should have thought to put plywood sheets inside his storage scroll for situations like this. Kurama was using his last empty scroll somewhere near the centre of the design, and the clones were ripping apart the seams of a pair of pants to give them each some cloth to write on for a more outer section.

The huge seal covered at least nineteen separate plateaus, but Kurama was right. They needed to make it so big that not even a wisp of the creature remained outside the limits even when it stretched out as wide as it could go, which it would probably do to try to escape the seal.

Because, as usual, Kurama was right: this seal was pretty fucking obvious and it was not going to be easy to lure the creature inside.

"Why couldn't either of us have earth jutsu?" he grumbled for the the fourteenth time.

**_Just draw, you pathetic little ferret. Your whining is pointless._ **

"I'm going to have to go clothes shopping when this is over," he griped. "You know how fun that will be."

**_Your sense of appropriate colour for clothes and proper cut is terrible._ **

"I just had to get saddled with the one bijuu who, despite his protests to the contrary to his ignorant siblings, actually thinks he has a sense of fashion. 'Their funny pelts don't do as much as they believe' my ass!" He summoned yet another piece of chalk as his previous one became just a nib between his fingers. "Is this because you were stuck in Mito or Kushina?"

**_Just draw, brat!_ **

* * *

The glow of Kyuubi's chakra in the seal was becoming an eyesore. Hinata had to remind herself that squinting was pointless. Instead, Hinata chucked another of the tiny darts woven into her braids towards Sensei, trying to catch his attention. Whatever he was doing with his Sharingan was making it very difficult for him to notice anything the way he usually did when his Sharingan was uncovered.

It was detrimental to her efforts to prevent him from accidentally doing something terrible like using that dimension change ability Obito had and sending this black creature back to their own dimension.

"Sensei!" She had tried to avoid calling out to him. She really didn't want to tip off the black creature by accident, even by inadvertently making it think with more than its "CAPTURE/POSSESS" instinct. She was apparently out of options though.

Finally, finally, his eyes met hers. She forced herself not to flinch at the critical mass of chakra building behind his Sharingan or the Mangekyou shape of it. "Don't!"

The chakra inside his head stuttered, and the shape of the three-pointed pinwheel fuzzed slightly.

'You mustn't,' she hand signed, hoping desperately that the black thing didn't understand Konoha Standard Hand Sign. 'Break plan.'

He looked confused, and she couldn't really blame him. The seal Yuji and Kyuubi were creating was beyond his field of vision. He couldn't know. 'Plan?' he signed back.

'Trust me,' she signalled, grimacing as a yank of Kyuubi's chakra hand around her torso wrenched her neck painfully. Instead of potentially giving away more information, she set to helping be a better distraction. She made it more of a fight than a chase by sending a vacuum blast at the thing as she was swung near enough for another taunt.

She would keep this up as long as she had to.

* * *

It was somehow anticlimactic, Yuji decided, standing well back from the edges of the seal. His eyes only flicked to it nervously every once in a while as he tracked the ridiculous speed of the two clones Kurama had split off for the final step. If a single line was out of place… Well, he didn't want to think about it.

Yang Kurama had made a slow arc over the last twenty minutes, painstakingly leading the black creature back around towards them. How the heck Yang had managed to keep this not-bijuu in pursuit for so long was kind of a miracle. Although, there wasn't really anything else in this landscape for it to go after if it didn't have some way out.

One of Kurama's clones launched itself from the side and slightly behind, chakra spreading out sort of like the bell of a jellyfish and enclosing the black creature, Kurama's will a thin shield around the edges. The other clone whipped out an enormous arm and pitched the ball that the first clone had become right at the centre of the seal.

Yuji felt his heart thudding painfully in his chest. If they had made a mistake—!

The ball broke: not with a splat, but with a hiss of steam as its chakra instead flowed into the seal, giving the last boost necessary to pass the activation barrier. The spirit net made a strange thrum as its boundaries activated.

Within, the black creature reformed into something vaguely humanoid and rushed the barrier, howling. It hit the edges of net and was dragged forcefully back towards the centre.

Across the seal, Yuji spotted Kurama inside Nagato slowing to a canter and moving to circle the circumference. The two Konoha ninja were still held in chakra hands, but they were quiet, studying the spirit net. Even when they were set down on their feet and Yang Kurama retreated back inside Nagato's skin, they studied the seal Yuji had sacrificed his entire wardrobe (even the pants he had been wearing in the end) to make.

Hatake glanced at him and noticed his lack of pants. Yuji refused to be embarrassed. His boxers were just fine.

"Hmm," said Hatake at last. "And how long will this last?"

Yuji grimaced. "No idea, unfortunately. I've only tested it for a few days so far. This isn't something I can just leave here unsupervised. I can't stay here and watch it either though." Yang Kurama walked closer, and Yuji set his hand on the possessed redhead's shoulder, letting Yang mingle with the whole to gain some Yin as well. "Hatake, you're going to be the only one with a path here, since I'm not going to let Kurama rip out your eye and burn it. I need you to understand what that means."

The Konoha jounin narrowed those mismatched eyes at him as Hinata turned to stare balefully at him as well.

Yuji raised his hands defensively. "I said I'm not going to let him immolate your goddamn eye, chill! That means you're the gatekeeper though. Kurama really doesn't like that. But we're gonna need you to be able to keep accessing this place so when we come up with a more permanent solution, we can actually implement it.

"This seal is a beta version, untested for prolonged use. We don't know how long it will hold. Could be years. Could be months. Could be two weeks. I don't know. We'll be keeping an eye on it. Well, Kurama will. Sort of."

Yuji grimaced as Nagato's body stepped back a few paces and just stood there as chakra arms sprouted from his shoulders and ripped those Rinnegan eyes right out of their sockets. Both Konoha ninja flinched as Yuji pulled out his storage scroll and summoned a mostly empty jar of pickles. Crunching on the two remaining, he dumped the juice on the ground, rinsed the jar just to be sure he had gotten all the vinegar out, and let those chakra arms drop the eyeballs in with disgusting plops. He swallowed against his gag reflex as he screwed the lid back on and made the jar disappear. "Nagato here will be staying to hold down the fort. Best to not leave anything tempting here for that thing or for Konoha, huh?"

**"I promise to immolate him before I let you or any other ninja take him,"** Kurama rumbled through Nagato's throat.

"So while I do request that you figure out how to get back to this dimension with your Sharingan, I don't advise you to try it out." Yuji grinned despite the cold glare Hatake Kakashi was holding him with.

"What incentive do I have to cooperate?"

"Well, I won't let this crazy little abomination recreate the Juubi, for one," he said, gesturing at the black creature frantically testing the limits of the seal and wreaking havoc on the remains of his wardrobe. Not that tearing the seal to pieces now that it was activated would help. The seal was anchored very carefully. "Juubi would be really bad for anyone with chakra. See, chakra kind of came from it, and it really wants it all back, and you ninja can't live without it anymore, so that would be really, really bad for you. Fatally so. Kurama told me stories about what the Juubi's rampage looked like; you really don't want to know."

Kakashi's unimpressed eyebrow was quite eloquent.

"I'll also be keeping the bijuu out of trouble for you. I think its better all around if none of your ninja villages have any of them. And they've been burnt from their encounters with our species enough that I don't think I'll have much trouble convincing them to keep away."

"They are natural disasters," Kakashi protested.

"I have Kurama. I can keep them in line. Be happy! It means I'm going to be taking Hachibi from Kumo soon."

That was apparently a good enough offer.

"Besides, your Hokage still has a stash of favours she can call in. Don't worry, she has hooks in me yet." He grinned despite the worry admitting that cost him and clapped his hands. "Now, I don't suppose you have enough juice to practice with your Sharingan now? You'll want to be careful on the other side when trying out your Sharingan too: if you end up inside the spirit net's boundaries when hopping into this dimension, you won't be getting out."

Hinata and Kakashi both shook their heads. "We have another way out though," Hinata said.

"Oh yeah, the toads. Well, I guess I'll head back ahead of you guys then and let them know to get the toads to summon you back now." He turned from them to the piece of Kurama in Nagato. With a grimace, he closed his eyes and hugged the possessed man. He felt terrible, but perhaps this was a strange kind of justice? Beneath his skin, he could sense Kurama in him reaching out to the Kurama in Nagato. Something massive and compressed was transferred between them, and Yuji hid a grimace in Nagato's shoulder at the new weight. "We'll call you back to the whole soon," he promised the Kurama inside this broken Uzumaki before he let go.

He called to the soul anchor inside the piece of coral he had dropped off the side of his now destroyed platform (he had had to sacrifice its canvas to the seal, which sucked).

With a massive push-pull of chakra, he and Kurama summoned themselves to the ocean floor. Kurama's chakra enveloped him and snagged the coral necklace from the sand before pushing them back towards the surface and clambering atop the waves to find the Konoha bunch regarding him warily.

The fox's appearance melted away, and Yuji managed a pained grin despite the animosity in the Konoha team's eyes and the black anguish in Itachi's. "Hi!" he called with a wave as he did a headcount. Shisui was missing.

Rat's shoulders slumped. Relief?

Yuji tried to ignore that. He could deal with that later. "You probably wanna get your toad friends to summon Hinata and Kakashi back here. They're probably pretty sick of where they are. I couldn't take them with me. Prototype testing and all that. Safer to use toad summoning for them."

* * *

"What will you do now?" Itachi asked him, his eyes full of such grief that Yuji wouldn't be surprised if he started sobbing at any moment. His voice was dead though.

Yuji held out his hand and wriggled it until Itachi took it. "Push your chakra against mine and loosen it."

Itachi blinked, but he eventually did so. Yuji pushed forward his sympathy and his gratitude to Itachi for keeping his word after everything. He took in Itachi's guilt and fear and pushed forward reassurance. He felt Itachi's longing for his brother, so he took Sasuke's place and pulled the poor guy into a hug. Itachi froze for a long moment, but then he clung tight, nails digging into Yuji's shirt as he shook with silent sobs.

Shisui had been Itachi's pillar for so long. Yuji could feel it in his chakra.

"I'm gonna make it so this never happens again. I need you to make sure no one finds a way to bring Madara or Obito back with Edo Tensei or whatever other hellish soul snatching jutsu you crazy ninja come up with. And that no Uchiha kid ever needs to gain the Mangekyou again. I've got bijuu to coordinate, as much as I can. Kurama and I need to work on a method to anchor him outside of me more permanently too."

"You know what he will do without you."

Yuji shook his head. "Don't worry. He and I have plans for a while yet that should keep him out of trouble."

**_Hah._ **

"Go become Hokage, Itachi. Bring peace to your village. Leash Danzou." Yuji could see _knowing_ in Itachi's eyes that made the guilt writhe in his guts. He avoided it by fumbling for a folded scrap of paper covered in a body seal a Kurama clone had made while he and the rest had been frantically scribing the spirit net.

"I will. Don't cause trouble so I'll be expected to come after you." Itachi glanced at the scroll when Yuji pushed it into his hands. "Obito's body?"

Yuji nodded. "Go hug your brother." He clapped Itachi on the back one last time before turning towards Kikai Island in the distance, studying the sails. One of them was awfully close, which was odd. Most of the ships had fled the area once the stupid statue had risen out of the ocean. _Anything strange from that one?_

**_If a lack of hatred is strange, there is that._ **

_Not even fear-fuelled hatred?_

**_No, not even that. Perhaps they are stupidly brave. Or stupidly curious._ **

_I guess?_

* * *

Hinata came to hover just out of Itachi's sphere of misery after he separated from Yuji. There was a new corpse seal in his hands to match the one she could detect in his kunai pouch. She could guess what this new one contained. "Taichou?" she said hesitantly.

His black eyes met hers. It was startling. She had always respected Itachi—how could she not when Sasuke had always worshipped him, even after Sasuke had started masking his adoration behind snark. She had never seen him so human and so weak.

And yet the black flames had burned and were still burning. Dog and Monkey were rounding them up and sealing them away for study.

"Yes, Hinata?"

"He said somethings that you should know before we leave him," she whispered, coming in closer. "He means to free Hachibi."

The grief dimmed beneath the veneer of command again as Itachi pulled himself back together enough to say, "Report."

* * *

Itachi was distracted by Hinata. The rest of the team was off doing ninja team things. Hatake Kakashi was watching Yuji very carefully, but Yuji was trying to ignore that. He set his jaw and walked towards where the man futilely wearing that dumb Rat mask was standing guard, packed and ready to depart.

"Shimura Takashi."

The agent turned that masked face towards him. "Kobayashi Yuji."

Yuji came to a halt, feeling kind of like he had just been winded. Nobody had called him his full name in forever. All the words that had been bubbling in him kind of just evaporated. "Why?"

Rat hesitated and pushed his mask up. That unfamiliar face stared back at him, but Yuji could see traces of his dad's face there. Very faint traces. "Whether you accept it or not, and whether I acknowledge it or not, I am Mamoru. He is part of me, no matter how much he was a mask I wore. I was Mamoru for almost thirteen years, Yuji. I was Mamoru for you, Seiichi, and your mother. He and I grew together, two saplings growing to lean on each other. As far as I will always be concerned, and despite whatever you may want, I consider myself your father. It is my job to try to do what is best for you, and if that is providing discipline and shaping your character through guilt, then I will do it."

He grimaced. "I know I am no longer strong enough to spank you or send you to your room for misbehaving. I believe, and I will probably always believe, that you made a mistake when you left Jiraiya in the Red City. I believe in Konoha. I believe in the good you could have done there, as the Yondaime intended. I will always regret that for you. But I was also proud," he whispered, "that you managed to evade capture until they decided to leave you alone. I was proud that my lessons managed to get through your thick skull. I am proud that you managed to do so much on your own.

"I will never trust the Kyuubi. To me, he is the destroyer of Konoha, the natural disaster, and the one that took your bright future in Konoha with _all of us_ from you. You see something different in him, but I cannot. Not now. Not after what he has taken from you, me, Seiichi, and your mother. You are following a false friend, and I do not know how I can make you see that. I am terrified for you." He stared Yuji in the eye, and Yuji could tell that he meant it. "You have managed to make Danzou fixate upon you, and I cannot protect you from him either." His voice lowered to a whisper again. "I do not know if even Hokage-sama can protect you from him. Be very careful! Like I told you before, his followers are not like me. They do not regret."

There was an apology in there somewhere. "Why?" Yuji said again.

"Because it was time. Because I knew you would never let her go without a fuss that would draw attention. You could not protect her. I could not either, not if they tied her to you. And tying her to Jiraiya-sama was dangerous for different reasons. She needed to disappear, just like the rest of us, and I could not let you ruin that." He shook his head. "And you would have. I know you would have. You would have shouted and screamed and tried to run with her. We would have had to all betray your trust and risk setting off the Kyuubi to separate you from her. Better to have you hate me and let Jiraiya pull you forward with promises of revealing her location in the future with your cooperation. I could not let anything taint your trust in Jiraiya. They were coming and he was the best person to protect you."

Yuji was quiet for a while, trying to figure out exactly how to take that.

Because a lot of it was true. He would not have let go of Mom. He just wouldn't have. He hadn't believed in the danger then, the bogeymen Dad always warned him about. They had just been there to scare him into doing what Dad wanted. But Akatsuki had existed. Obito had existed. Had they really been as close behind them as Takashi was saying?

Kurama was mercifully silent.

He decided to hold off on his decision and play the role straight. He'd had practice with Minato and Kushina. He could do this again.

"Dad…" Yuji couldn't believe he was going to ask this. This was the most awkward conversation ever. _Ever._ "Dad, did you love Mom?"

The ninja Takashi sighed and dragged his palm down his face, a gesture Yuji knew so well. "Mamoru did, vaguely," his dad admitted.

"I know what parents in love look like," Yuji said firmly, embarrassment gone now that he knew the truth in the words behind the ones his dad had said. "My blood parents, their ghosts in my soul, they showed me what their love for each other looks like. You love Mom. You, Takashi, love Mom. I didn't need Kushina and Minato to show me, because I already knew it."

"Hiromi is gone, Yuji."

He shook his head stubbornly. "She's not. You know Mom always put herself into Hiromi. Mae is not gone, just buried. She loves all of us. Even you."

"She doesn't know me," his dad whispered. And that was what Yuji had been looking for. His heart leapt. Takashi had used the present tense. She was still alive!

"She went to Konoha. I know you. You watched over her. You had to be yourself in Konoha. She knows you." He couldn't say she loved him. He knew his mom loved Mamoru. It was why she had always been so fragile. Dad had always let Mom shout at him, those hurricane arguments, because she had wanted to break Mamoru's mask to reach the man behind it so badly.

"Are you strong enough to protect her now?"

Yuji glared, fists clenching. "You're asking me that now?"

"Are you strong enough to protect her from Kurama? From my clan head?"

And Yuji had to pause. Because when it had just been Yang Kurama, Yuji would have said yes to both those questions, no problem. Yang and Yin together was different though. He knew that better after today than ever.

Takashi nodded. Slowly. "So I won't tell you where she is. But I believe you can find her. She's not in Konoha anymore. When you know you're ready, go look for her in places you both would have loved."

Yuji was all set to argue that when Itachi spoke up. "Team!"

Rat snapped his mask back down and zipped over to stand beside the Monkey agent.

"Yuji," Itachi called to him as Hatake wandered over to stand by him, the last to assemble, "I'm counting on you to make sure those three bijuu you let loose won't make trouble. Hinata tells me you've got Shukaku as well, so that's four. If I hear of any trouble from those four, I will be holding you personally responsible. Also, please refrain from setting off a war with Kumo at this time. Taking the Hachibi from Killer B will be more than enough to set A-sama after Konoha and Fire yet again."

Yuji flapped his hand. "Not right away, no worries. I'll give you a heads up the usual way when I'm ready. Kurama and I have other shit to get done, like I said. Have a safe trip home and thanks again for the assist. Kurama is looking forward to hearing about the other half of your mission."

Itachi shot him a _look_ for that last line but got his people moving out. Yuji waited until they'd sprinted mostly out of sight before heading for Kikai Island to get some canvas for his raft. _So what are we gonna do with Shukaku?_

Kurama grunted in his head. **_Drown him._**

He rolled his eyes. _Sure. What are we really gonna do with him? I don't get the feeling he's gonna stay outta trouble like those other three we let loose, and we don't have time to babysit him right now._

**_If I knew how, I would seal him in the pot with Matatabi._ **

He thought it over as he covered the distance to shore and clambered up a sheer cliff to avoid setting off the locals. _We could, you know._

**_What?_ **

_Drown him. If we put him in another spirit net and it holds…_

The fox chuckled.

* * *

Hinata's forward momentum dissipated and the urge to gag began to claw at her.

Konoha's walls were just in sight.

Her gag reflex finally won, and she ground to a halt and dry heaved.

"Hinata-sama?" Neji-niisan's hand rested on her back.

Shame burned and hot tears formed in both eyes. She could still see Kakashi-sensei's white chakra hovering nearby, disturbed by his concern. Neji's sea-foam chakra thrummed against her skin, swirling in the pattern of guilt and worry.

"What is wrong, Hinata-sama? Did they injure you? Why didn't you say anything?"

How could she say that the village smelled like rotting entrails? The Kyuubi must have made it so her brain would interpret it like this. There was no way Konoha, such a haven, could smell of rot and death.

Gritting her teeth, she formed a chakra ball in her hand, one that was concentrated enough to give off light. It smelled of rotting lavender.

And yet… cinnamon, citrus, and honey. Kyuubi's chakra, of all things, had smelled like that as he drew his brethren forth. So different from how it had smelled in the cave.

Intent, she reminded herself. A guiding light.

The smell shifted, just slightly. Wilted lavender.

"I will recover," she said softly, holding the chakra nosegays close. "One way or another."

* * *

The Red City was just as Yuji remembered it: big, tall, and loud.

Last time, he had trailed in Jiraiya's wake, secure in his godfather's savvy until Kurama had swayed him. This was where everything had started, where he had first chosen his own path.

_My turn to choose for the ninja._

Nodding, he found his way to a coffee shop, got a cup of the brew, snagged a newspaper, and scanned the headlines. Finding nothing promising, he kept flipping through, hoping there would be some reference to her.

**_Fuma Dana?_ **

_Yeah. I think she's part of the answer._

**_You think a lawyer can save the ninja?_ **

_No, but I think her family thinks outside the box, and I sure as hell could use some insight from them. Your suggestions of "Burn them all!" aren't really what we need._

Kurama huffed.

Oddly, it was the phone book that told him where he could find her. He had expected her to hide from ninja, but there was her name in the listing: phone number and home address. Was she insane? Where was her healthy sense of paranoia? Shaking his head, he borrowed the coffee shop's phone and dialled her number.

"Hello? Dana speaking."

"Hi, Dana-san, this is Yuji. We met many years ago. I was undercover with a ninja, Jiraiya the Toad Sage. I was going by the name Katsuo at the time. Do you remember me?" This went completely against the grain, but a woman as open and honest as Fuma Dana needed frankness from him.

"Hmm, Jiraiya? About how long ago?"

"Three years and change. It was right before those explosions on Mount Bousui." His face burned.

"Oh! You! An Akatsuki member, Hoshigaki Kisame, asked me about you afterwards. Your real name is Yuji?"

That tidbit of knowledge rocked him slightly. Another point to add to Takashi's claim's side of the scales. "Hmm, that's a tough question, Dana-san. Yuji is the name my mother called me. Uzumaki Naruto is the name my blood parents gave me."

There was a pause. "Yuji-san, is there some reason you're contacting me?"

He started breathing again for a bit before answering. "Jiraiya told me then that you belonged to a very unique clan, Clan Matsuku. I have some questions I think only your clan can answer for me."

"Yuji-san, I would like it if you came and had tea here with me. Do you have my address?"

"Yes."

"Do you require directions?"

"No, I'll be there in a couple minutes."

"I believe you. I'll tell the receptionist downstairs I'm expecting you."

Yuji ran. There was something here. There was some cliff ahead of him, and he had never been able to resist leaping off the edge.

Dana-san lived in a stately building with about eighteen stories. Pale slate covered in climbing vines characterized the exterior. Double glass doors with a frosted wren for decoration opened into a tasteful reception area with a desk, one wall covered in a waterfall tumbling over boulders into a stone pool filled with lilies and reeds, and an elevator. The older man behind the reception desk smiled politely at him until Yuji gave his name.

"Ah, please proceed into the elevator. You will ascend two floors. Cross the atrium and take the first elevator to the eighteenth floor. Dana-san is waiting for you there."

Yuji noticed the first oddity when he got into the elevator. There was only a button for the second floor and ground level. But the elevator display incremented to three just the same. The receptionist must have pressed an override button or something. The doors opened to reveal an indoor garden. Tall windows stretched the height of the building on opposite sides, behind the glass elevators that travelled past them. The centre of the building was open to the ceiling as well. All the apartment suites were built around a central open shaft, which had mirrors guiding the light from the glass roof down to the trees and the stream wending through the floor beneath.

"It's our sanctuary," said a familiar voice. Dana-san looked older, her curly hair more steel than black now. She was still strong despite the crows feet bracketing her eyes. "All clan branches build a compound to accommodate the clan within the bustle of the population centre we work in. Our views are so different; we need peace and each other to be at ease with ourselves. This is not the most impressive of the compounds—the one in Port Mure is by far the most extensive and elaborate—but we do well for ourselves here in the Red City." She closed the distance between them, crossing one of the many arched wooden bridges over the twisting stream, trailing a hand through the reeds growing in it, and then extended that hand for him to shake. "Welcome to our home."

He noticed for the first time that they weren't the only people in the garden. A handful of children were darting between the trees, shrieking with laughter, and a skinny younger woman in jeans was lying on the riverbank holding a book above her head. "Thanks for having me," he said sincerely.

She smiled, just slightly shorter than him. She had seemed so much taller when she had lambasted the old perv all those years ago. "So, what questions can I try to answer for you?"

"Hard ones, unfortunately. I've given myself an impossible quest."

"Well, you're in good company. Nariko there"—she nodded over to the reading woman—"is trying to figure out what the hell the investment banks are up to now with all their fucking doublespeak. That's an impossible task, and I don't envy her one bit."

"Not right now," Nariko-san called. "That's for tomorrow morning."

Dana-san laughed. "Enjoy your break. I'll see you for dinner?"

"Sure."

"Would you mind if Yuji-san is with us? Answers to his questions may take longer than expected."

Nariko-san flapped a hand to demonstrate her unconcern before she turned the page.

When he and Dana were seated at her kitchen table, each with a cup of tea, he began explaining. "I want to end the ninja world, but I need to know what to do with the thousands of ninja in it."

Dana sedately took a sip and then said, "You and every member of my clan. It's been one of our many goals for decades."

Something knotted in his chest released. He scrubbed palms over his face as he breathed raggedly.

"No," she said firmly, "you are not alone. And you may have come to the right place. Or at least the right starting place. I am only the head of this compound. We are part of the Matsuku branch of our clan. I will send you to our main branch compound. There are a few people you need to talk to there. They will know where to send you."

That wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Can't you answer my questions? If you're a compound leader—"

"I have a narrow focus. I persecute ninja. I am one of the only ones in this compound focusing on them. Most of my co-residents have other goals. Nariko faces down the insidious twists of big banks. Miguel on the sixth floor fights slavery in other countries by pushing for economic sanctions. There are many fronts to fight upon. You need a general for your front. I am not that person. Rather, you need to meet Nariko's parents. They've had certain pivotal experiences with ninja over the years that have made them the generals in Fire for your fight. We are not very active here, unfortunately. The political climate is not right here for much progress. The only places that make less progress than us are Water, where no members of our clan still live, and Lightning, where to speak against Kumo is dangerous. They will probably send you to Wind Country, but I do not know." She squeezed his hand and smiled, almost viciously. "You are not alone anymore. We've always known it is just a matter of time."


	31. Chapter 31

A very strange fish, one flat and made of a black outline and a white body, descended towards the ocean floor not too far from the roots of Kikai Island. There was a score of siblings nearby, each searching.

* * *

Sasuke squeezed her hand hard after Hinata came out of the room the cadre of medics had been using for her third evaluation. She knew that if Shino-kun were in the village, he would have rounded out her team, but he was away on a mission. Kakashi-sensei was leaning nonchalantly against the wall as though he just happened to be reading in the hospital.

She grimaced at him even as her heart warmed a little.

The absence of her family was glaring.

She felt bad, but both of her teammates carried the lingering stench of their chakra used in impure ways. Kakashi-sensei smelled chemical—ozone and something noxious. Sasuke was smoke and something like burnt rubber. They must have been training that morning. In general, the hospital was less of a burden on her rapidly intensifying sense of smell, since the intentions were cleaner here for the most part, but their presence poisoned that. She delicately raised a hand to cover her nose and focused on thinking very pure thoughts and weaving them into her chakra emission.

Sasuke's face fell and he backed away quickly.

The smell of her chakra soured sharply at the pang of guilt of hurting the boy who was more her brother than she deserved. If she had been out from under observation, she would have grimaced. Instead, careful to maintain her proper persona, she ducked her head and bobbed a timid bow of apology.

The orderly down the hall turned the corner and Hinata absently kept track of him before letting that apologetic grimace cross her face for Sasuke's benefit. He mirrored it, showing that all was forgiven.

"So?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Shizune-sama and Tsunade-sama are conferring with the other doctors and researchers over the results of this scan. They are pointing out the increasing density of the lobe that is posited to interpret scent since my last two scans. They are also again comparing it to my scan from just after… The years between are too many for it to be very useful, they say. There are always significant changes during puberty."

Kakashi-sensei snorted. "I'm sure Sasuke wasn't asking for you to do a full report and eavesdropping all in one."

Sasuke shot him a glare. "Hinata can't help it if walls aren't a good way to keep secrets from her. And I wanted as many details as she wants to give me." He turned back to her, his face grave. "Have you eaten?"

She paused, torn.

"Hinata."

She nodded tentatively, but Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei saw right through her.

"Have you actually managed to keep anything down?" Sasuke probed, looking truly concerned. "You are taking those pills—"

"Yes," she interrupted him, a little exasperated. "They help." A little. For a while. And then her arm got tired, or she started to lose the purity of intention, and suddenly her nosegay didn't work very well anymore.

"Have you thought of asking the Inuzuka for help? Kiba deals with this too."

"Kiba-kun might be helpful," she admitted, but he turned out to be a disappointing source when she and Sasuke tracked him down.

"They're just smells," he said, shrugging. "They're not good or bad smells, just information to be interpreted. It's all in your head, sorta."

Not helpful at all.

* * *

"I know you have Shisui's funeral at the Uchiha Compound in a couple hours, but I have some more questions for you." Tsunade-sama looked down her nose at Itachi, who hid a wan smile with great care. It was impressive that she managed it considering that she was sitting at her desk while he was standing before it, having been called back for another debriefing without his team. "I understand why you didn't move to capture the three bijuu released. That makes sense. But why did you assign Yuji responsibility for those four?" she growled, glaring.

"Because I no longer had the resources to do so myself. And I know him, to an extent. He will take that assignment of responsibility seriously precisely because they're bijuu. He has aligned himself with them three times now: Sanbi, Nibi, and now these four. It's obvious what the trend is. With Kurama, he actually has the resources to enforce his will."

"Assuming the Kyuubi cooperates. You said he's different now."

Itachi nodded. "Definitely more willing to lash out. Less talk and more action. It's yet another reason I said what I did. Kurama is used to being considered a slave and it is one of his major reasons for action. By assigning responsibility to both him and Yuji, I demonstrated that I consider him above a slave, that I consider him in charge of his brethren. I have hopes that will reduce his grievances with us, even if not by much."

Tsunade-sama grimaced but moved on. "And what about the threat of Kyuubi immolating Kakashi's Sharingan?"

"Considering what he had just done to Obito and what he did to Nagato, I do not doubt his capacity for carrying out that threat. Given our experience with the creature called Black Zetsu and how far Yuji and Kurama went to confine him, I do not doubt that he is dangerous. Whether he is exactly what Yuji said is suspect, of course, since we have no way of knowing how accurate Kurama's assessment is. But Kurama is our only expert in this field at the moment, so I have given as much weight to his words as my level of trust in him allows."

She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I don't like it. Any of it. We didn't get to question Obito. We didn't get to put action to our words to the other Kage. The only silver lining is that there were no witnesses other than some sailor civilians, and much of the action didn't happen in front of them, though the most damning part did. There's no way they missed three bijuu being extracted and being allowed to flee." She didn't mention the damaging loss her forces had sustained. Itachi didn't either. He wasn't able to talk about it without prompting yet.

"Obito's defection is by far the most troubling," Itachi agreed. "Interrogating him was my highest priority. By all reports, he was once very committed to becoming Hokage. Deviating to attacking the village with Kyuubi and working with a group collecting bijuu is a very big change, one I do not believe he would have gone through on his own, even if he was somehow present at Nohara Rin's suicide."

She nodded. "At least you brought his body back. The missing piece was rather crucial to the team's analysis, but they have enough secrets to probe into with what half his body looks like. There might be invaluable knowledge for assisting amputees in what you've brought back."

He hesitated, trying to judge how his next words would be received. "I have the second half of my promise to Kurama to uphold, still."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "And have you thought of anything?"

"Since we have never found Madara's body, and since there might yet be pieces of Obito's body out there as well, Edo Tensei is a definite risk."

She huffed. "My great uncle openly regretted making that jutsu, but why on earth did he do it in the first place? We don't have the resources for me to assign you Inuzuka to sniff out traces of both all over the continent."

"It would not satisfy the terms of the agreement anyway," he admitted. "I promised two deaths: one in the living world, and one in the pure lands."

She rolled her eyes. "Why on earth did you make that promise again?"

"For information. I haven't been idle all these years. I have been doing research since cornering Obito proved to be an impossible task without bait. The problem is that most techniques centred around the spirit are just devoted to unhousing it. The exception is possibly the Shiki Fūjin, given the Sandaime's use of it apparently sealed the spirit of Orochimaru's hands away in such a way that even he, a person we know to be capable of using Edo Tensei, could not retrieve them."

"What are you leading up to then?" she asked, leaning back and arching an eyebrow at him. "I don't have any answers for you. I'm a medic for people in the living world."

"I'm asking for permission to search the archives the Sandaime had access to. I will question Hatake Kakashi, since the Yondaime also knew the jutsu, but if there is a written record of how Shiki Fūjin works that remains in the village even after the Uzumaki scrolls were stolen, I'd like to try to find it and study it to see if the Shiki Fūjin could possibly solve the problem."

"You do realize that jutsu's toll is the life of the user."

"I suspected as much. But if there is some way it could be adapted into something less lethal, notes on its use are my best starting point."

Tsunade was silent for a time, staring unseeingly at her steepled fingers. "I will allow you to read whatever _I_ find on the topic as long as you swear not to allow the knowledge to spread beyond yourself and swear not to ever use it in its current form. Yuji has proven that he can retrieve things from the Shinigami's stomach. Somehow, that knowledge will inevitably get out.

"There is another source you should probably consider, which will be more useful. Monks have always been more concerned about the spirit. I advise you to take a research trip to Fire Temple and perhaps Wind Temple as well since Yuji created the spirit net seal from the knowledge he gained there."

They discussed the outline of his trip for a while before he glanced pointedly at the clock. She huffed but leaned back in her chair and interlaced her fingers, studying him for a moment before apparently making some decision. "The team investigating Uchiha Obito's remains made a very interesting discovery. Upon his heart, there is a very strange seal. It looks rather like the Rinnegan."

* * *

Arisa waited until Takashi finished setting his former genin team to sparring before patting the branch beside her. Rolling his eyes, he crouched on it beside her, so proper compared to how she was lounging with her legs dangling on either side of the bough. "Soooo… your younger son is super manipulative. Not as good as you, and you guys are nowhere near my level, of course, but manipulative all the same."

Takashi sighed and put his hand over his eyes. "I knew you weren't going to miss that," he grumbled.

"I'm his honorary aunt! And it was a very juicy conversation!"

His hand dropped and he shook his head.

"So…"

He stayed silent, looking past her, the brat.

"Hey! Focus! How much of that super manipulative conversation was true?"

"On his side?"

She smacked him on the shoulder. Hard.

He settled himself on the branch, letting his legs dangle as well. "You're supposed to know better than I do? You're so fond of telling me you know everything."

"I'm trying to be polite, otouto. Spill."

"Yuji was being manipulative."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "I _know that_! What parts had truth in them?"

"You know I'm not supposed to talk about—"

"Hey! Tsunade-sama blew the clearance on that mission wide open for this last one. That excuse doesn't work anymore!"

"I'm not supposed to talk about _her_ because she's still in play. And it is true that my clansman would use her if he could."

She whacked him again. "You are such a stickler of an asshole! Speak! Besides, this has gone well beyond the parameters of a mission: I want to know because my asshole of a nephew tried to use it to manipulate you, and I'm not sure if it worked or not!"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"Okay, fine, I'm worried about you too."

Shaking his head, he sighed, but she could see the slight curl at the corner of his mouth. "I do know how to do my job."

Disappointment jabbed at her. "You pretended she was Sora, didn't you. That's how the kid could say what he did. Kushina and Minato-sama were so openly in love, it was a little sickening." She gripped his shoulder. "Takashi…"

"Use everything," he said nonchalantly, but she could detect the agony of his mind.

She shuffled so she could wrap him in her arms. "Was it a beautiful dream? To live in peace with two kids and no other missions?"

He laughed. "Hardly. Hiromi was not like Sora. Sora is grace and honour and solemn strength. Hiromi was something of an idealized version of Mae: less about the sex but still very much sensuality, determination, and possessive empathy."

Just to tease him, she said "You didn't!" in a horrified tone.

He shot her a look.

"Bloody monk," she grumbled.

"She was a prostitute."

"And? You don't fool me, otouto. You wouldn't hold that against her, not for that long. Even you're not that pigheaded. I know you respected her by the end. And what about what you said about Mamoru? About him growing like a tree or something?"

He sighed and was silent.

She poked him in the shoulder. Hard.

"Mamoru loved Hiromi in a peaceful way. The fondness of long association and acceptance."

"You make it sound like a sibling love, like what I can tell you feel for me. But that's not—"

"Arisa."

"Shi-boy."

They had a brief staring contest.

"Is she really alive like you told the kid?"

He pushed her face away with a groan. "You're the Yamanaka. Since you apparently know everything else, why not just slip the knowledge from my head."

She poked him again. "You know, I'm just going to have to find your other son! Tenzou is nowhere near as closemouthed as you are!" She shot off, but she could hear him cursing behind her and smirked. It was good that Takashi had managed to keep himself separate from Mamoru on that front at least. The overlap, especially given Sora, would have damaged things irrevocably.

She eventually discovered why Takashi hadn't bothered chasing her despite his cursing: Tenzou wasn't in the village.

* * *

Mother was … unsettled when Itachi attended Shisui's clan funeral after arranging the details of his journey to Fire Temple with Tsunade.

There was the grief they all felt for Shisui, but there was something else in her eyes and manner, something very slight. If he were pressed, he might have said it was … fear.

Itachi had never seen fear in his mother. He had seen worry—that was all too common. But fear?

He followed his mother into the hall of his aunt's house, where Shisui's funeral reception was being held. They eyed each other for a moment, assessing. "What is it?" he finally said.

"What do you mean?" she asked, sounding perfectly calm. It was a lie though. He _knew_ his mother.

"You've learned something, something that has unsettled you enough that I can see it in you."

She pushed forward and wrapped her hands around his wrist. "You have the Mangekyou now. You _know_ what this means."

"That my sight will go dark."

Mother's lips pressed together. "Not… Not if your aunt and uncle agree. I have asked on your behalf. For Shisui, it wasn't an option because he was the only one, but now…"

Itachi's eyes widened as comprehension shook him. "You want me…"

"You'll _need_ to be able to see. If you would be our hope, you cannot be blind!" she hissed. "If there were any other option than Shisui, I would have you take it, especially now, but…"

"Our powers will merge," he hissed back. "You know how they feared Kotoamatsukami, and that was why the Sandaime chose _me_ instead of Shisui as his assistant. If I take his eyes now…!"

"If you don't, can you imagine what will happen?" his mother shot back. "Everyone within the clan will submit a claim! It will cause internal strife such as we haven't seen since Madara left us."

He stared at her, sensing there was more. "What else do you know?"

She grimaced. "I _know_ nothing. I have been given… a hint."

"A hint about what? Is it what makes you afraid?"

Her eyes widened. "So you do see more now. For now."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "You think I am the only one who sees?"

"If your father spotted it, or Sasuke, he would have pressed me about it days ago." She turned away, pacing the half for a few moments, before looking back at him over her shoulder. "You know what Hatake Kakashi revealed to the world by choosing to make himself famous for the Sharingan Obito bequeathed him. You _know_ why your cousins were abducted by Orochimaru."

"Yes."

"Well, a Sharingan is one thing. A Mangekyou Sharingan is another, despite how it will lose its light. Shisui's Mangekyou… I fear what lengths a covetous outsider might go to now that he knows Shisui is no longer alive to defend his eyes."

Something in him lurched. "Who?"

She shook her head. "You are departing again. I will handle this."

"What if—!" He swallowed and tried again. "And what if something happens to you?" It was unthinkable—his mother was invincible—but he had just lost Shisui—!

She came back to him and cupped his face. "I will ask my informant to come to you. She is mad and old, but I cannot think she could die."

He cupped her hands in turn, gripping her fingers tightly. "We _cannot_ lose you. _I_ cannot lose you. You and I are all that is holding things in balance now that Shisui is gone."

She was steel before him for a long moment, holding onto some plan, but suddenly she softened. "Very well. I shall be more careful. But I will also have to cultivate more people you _trust_ to support you in my place. None of us can live forever." She peered into his eyes, looking for something he couldn't discern. "Will you show me?"

With a grimace, he forced chakra to his eyes, activating his normal Sharingan as easily as breathing. The grimace was for this next part. The activation of Mangekyou was not comfortable. It stung and cost him much chakra. His eyes watered fiercely as he forced the change. He hated that he had achieved this. It didn't matter that it wasn't deliberate like all those other evil and desperate members of his clan that had willingly murdered their best friend in a fruitless attempt to secure this ability. It didn't matter that it was yet another confirmation that the power was borne of grief and guilt, not of death and murder in the pursuit of power. People in his clan would envy him the new power and prestige. They would feed their greed. And new deaths, mysterious ones of friends and kin, would occur.

He _hated_ his new eyes.

And now he would have to be as careful with them as Shisui had always been: afraid even of his own fellow villagers and clan members. The regular Sharingan was a prize, but grief was pitifully easy to come by in their job description. The Mangekyou… He shook his head sharply, displacing his mother's hands. "I need to fix this," he whispered. "I don't want these eyes."

She smiled sadly at him. "Better that you had never gained them," she agreed.

"I must find a way to make them a worthless target. The Hyuuga system is diseased, but there is merit in the very core of their idea: a seal that locks the eyes upon death. I must find something like that, or have it created if it does not already exist."

"You would have Shisui condemn you to darkness because your eyes progressed in grief at his passing?"

"I would much rather that," he murmured, letting his eyes become black again and blinking away the tears. "If my honoured Aunt and Uncle bequeath them upon me, I will accept them, but I will not implant them, not until after I have ascended."

She looked concerned. "What if your sight deteriorates before you achieve that?"

"Then I will learn to fight blind. We both know Konoha's jounin will never vote in a man who can implant false memories and twist minds. After I ascend, perhaps. If I find enough trust in Konoha that I will survive the process."

Smiling sadly, his mother let her hands drop to her sides. "Wise. Very well. I will secure them for you, and then we must safeguard them very carefully so they will last until that hopeful day. And you must safeguard your sight to last until then. And you must safeguard yourself very carefully. Don't leave the village alone anymore. Don't be in the village alone anymore."

That put a kink in his plans. "Who should I be watching out for while I am here?"

She shot him a sardonic look. "Who do you think?"

"My clansmen. Anyone ambitious."

"Anyone serving anyone ambitious as well."

Oh. Well, he couldn't say he was exactly surprised…

"I would say you should take your brother with you, but we have need of him here. He is being trained, and he needs to ascend to jounin soon to keep up with expectations."

"Whom would you advise I take then?"

"Whom do you trust? Your roommate?"

"Tenzou is away; I'm not sure where or when he will be back."

Suddenly, she smirked. "How about bonding with another Mangekyou user?"

He blinked and groaned. Tsunade-sama was not going to like his request.

"If you're going out of the village, take Hinata with you," Sasuke said, finally rounding the corner at the end of the hall.

Itachi shared a glance with Mother, who looked proud of how stealthy Sasuke had managed to be, even if they had both been peripherally aware of his presence in the area. "She just returned from a gruelling mission. Are you certain she would not be better off here? I know she has applied to Tsunade-sama for help with her condition—"

"That's the reason she needs to get out of here," Sasuke insisted. "The smell is driving her crazy. She's barely eating. Tsunade and the medics are going to take forever. They said months. She'll be a skeleton before they come up with something. She needs to get out of here. Only they can't send her to an outpost: she's still too much of a game piece and I don't think it'll be any better for her. But with both of you going…"

Itachi sighed. "I'll ask her if she is willing and, only if she agrees, I'll press for her inclusion."

* * *

Nariko hung the basket from the crook of her arm and took the stairs. All seven flights, but she had been lying on the grass reading for hours before she finally realized it was time to start cooking. She hadn't seen a sign of Dana's guest leaving, so she had grabbed an extra tomato before shutting her door behind herself and heading up.

She had to force herself not to count the whole way, instead focusing on how well the plants in the vertical garden covering the outer stairwell wall were doing. She had had enough of numbers for the day.

She knocked and let herself in, the sound of their voices coming from the kitchen. "I'm here to commandeer your kitchen, Madame White Knight!" she called, bare feet padding on the tatami mats in the foyer.

"I surrender to your invasion!" Dana called back as Nariko came through the doorway. She and her guest, the dark-skinned young man with the impossibly curly hair Dana had called Yuji in the garden, were seated at the barstools at the counter. They each had a cup, Dana's definitely an espresso since Nariko could see that someone had used that machine their cousins in Port Mure had sent her as a congratulatory gift for winning a particularly high profile case against Konoha: when Mont Bousui had burned. The kid inspected her almost warily, which made her stomach lurch. Such distrust…

She smiled despite her dismay. "I take it you're joining us for supper? I'm making lasagna."

"What's that?" he asked.

She set her basket down with a thump. "Oh nooo," she moaned, pressing her hand over her mouth and widening her eyes. The boy briefly looked alarmed until he finally caught onto her dramatics. "You've never had _lasagna_? What rock have you been living under? Please tell me you've at least had fettuccini, spaghetti, ravioli, gnocchi, cannoli?" Her voice grew progressively higher pitched with each wry shake of his head. "Pizza?"

He finally nodded.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, so you've had tomatoes. At least we've made that much progress. Lasagna is pasta like this"—she held up one of the noodles after fishing it out of her basket—"layered with meat, tomatoes, and cheese. Because I'm a heathen, I like to put spinach and cottage cheese in with it as well. Gotta make sure Madame White Knight gets her veggies along with her fruits."

"Fruit?"

She shot him a glare. "Tomatoes are a fruit. They have seeds."

He raised his hands. "Okay, okay!"

With a grin, she set to pulling out a deep frying pan. Behind her, they resumed their discussion, the kid asking her questions about what had happened to the clan in Water. Nariko blanched and studiously set to dicing onions.

"The branch in Water, unfortunately, moved too quickly, too forcefully." Dana sighed. "Their actions to weaken the ninja culture of Kirigakure, unfortunately, became the seeds of the civil war that is only now winding down. During the course of the war, despite how the members of the Marino branch of our clan fled, more and more ended up as collateral damage, conveniently. Meticulously, all members of the Marino branch died in one assault or another skirmish. They were never the obvious target, but they died all the same. The cordon the Water Daimyo imposed prevented them from fleeing the island nation. Since the cordon lifted, we have sent people to search again, but not a single member of our family there has survived."

That story always filled her with immeasurable sorrow. It was a horror beyond reckoning that an entire branch, every single member except for their representative in the Nineteen, was dead. Worse, it had happened within her lifetime. If they had known how desperate things had been in time, the clan might have broken their unspoken rule and commissioned a rescue mission from Konoha or Kumo.

They had not known. And so the missions sent by their clan head had brought back only news of death.

"Your entire branch was murdered?" Yuji whispered. "And you're still going to keep going?"

Dana sighed, but she perked up when Nariko set a glass of Pinot Noir in front of her. She took a bracing sip and raised her eyebrows approvingly at Nariko. "This is not the first time. One of our kin was an advisor to the Fire Lord at the very end of the Warring Clans period. He was there when Konoha's first Hokage, Senju Hashirama, came before the Fire Daimyo to propose the idea of Konoha. Our kinsman knew what would happen, that the ninja would gain legitimacy and numbers and would become 'normal' in the eyes of society, and so he tried to nip the whole thing in the bud by advising the Fire Lord to say no." Dana took another sip of her wine.

"He was assassinated, wasn't he," Yuji said darkly.

Dana shrugged. "He died of a heart attack, or so the medics of the time essentially said. He left a message though, so we have always suspected something else."

"You think the Shodaime—?"

Dana shrugged. "I doubt it was the Shodaime himself, given how idealistic he was for a ninja of that time. But the Senju were a large, united clan once, not just a single old woman stuck ruling a village with her clan bloodline scattered to the four winds. Ninja are taught the importance of initiative. Someone probably saw a problem and provided a solution. That's what hard power, fast power, is: the ability to influence through violence or the threat of violence. Economic power can be a hard power as well, but it can be a little more complicated."

Nariko nodded. "Economic sanctions are a form of hard economic power. For example, Fire imposes economic sanctions on Beast Country as punishment for the particulars of the serf class. Their legal status renders them slaves, which Fire protests by not allowing great swathes of goods to be sold to them. There are other ways to wield economic power, but that's the one my clan typically chooses to strive towards."

The boy nods. "I know about those. I was taught. Trade embargoes, monopolies—that kind of stuff. In war with Wind, there's both: blanket trade embargoes and military might."

He was taught… Nariko glanced warily at her cousin, who did not look at all surprised. Who was this boy?

"Yes, there are those forms of power. But when one has a code of ethics, things become a little more complicated. A trade embargo with Wind would lead to food strikes and rampant starvation since Wind is not capable of supporting its population with the food it produces."

The boy nodded gravely. "Exactly."

"So, for us, that's too harsh. We—the clan—could not embrace that. So we fight at something of a disadvantage. We refused to hire ninja for combat missions and failed to do so in time due to lack of information and understanding, so we could not save the Marino. So, in the eyes of ninja, we are weak." Dana gave the boy a long look, one Nariko hadn't seen on her cousin's face before. "I think you are very strong, but do you choose to use that power? You did once that I saw. Perhaps you have done so many times. Why not now?"

Something in the kid's expression suddenly made him look very, very old and sad. "I never wanted to be this. And I know it doesn't work the way I need this to. Fighting just makes the other side more convinced that they're doing the right thing, somehow. They'll dig in their heels and then the only way I could truly win, where none of them would ever go back to being ninja, would be to kill every last one of them, because they would rebel and resist in secret because that's what ninja _are_."

Oh, Nariko thought numbly.

Dana nodded gravely. "You have a point. So we come to soft power—culture, society, and the like. It is a much slower power, but the fact that I am still alive points to how it does work. I am not viewed as such a threat that ninja dare to assassinate me. There would be a public outcry if I died. I am high profile: I am well known and accepted as a champion of the civilian population. I am like my kinsman, the old Fire Lord's advisor. He was seen as such a threat that we suspect him of being assassinated. I regularly defeat Konoha or Kiri or Oto or any other ninja entity in court and win. All I can win for those I represent is money, and it is not my duty to collect it—Konoha troops collect it from foreign entities, and the Fire Lord withholds it from Konoha's operations funding if I win against Konoha ninja—but I do hurt them as more and more ninja become economic entities instead of solely military ones.

"Despite how allowing the creation of villages legitimized the ninja within society, making them more than scattered mercenary clans, there have been advantages that my kinsman perhaps didn't anticipate. Ninja must bow, if only somewhat, to rule of law. They are beholden to the Daimyo of their nation. And so that opens them to influence by regulation and society."

Yuji snorted. Nariko shot him a raised-eyebrow look.

Dana carried on, unperturbed. "Yes, limited influence. Soft power is not swift nor is it as absolute as hard power. It is a power of changing minds. It is the power of changing values and morals. Culture changes. Something like that, unless you are very lucky, cannot be effected overnight. We must change 'normal'. I have made it 'normal' for civilians to seek recompense for damages to their possessions and selves in a court of law. This was not normal during the Warring Clans period, which was about eighty years ago. If a civilian was hurt, the only option for retaliation was to hire a rival clan to seek vengeance."

Slowly, Yuji nodded. "It really hasn't been that long," he mused. "I keep forgetting."

"It is easy to forget. Ninja society in some ways hasn't shifted that much."

Yuji shook his head. "I wasn't raised in ninja society, not really. I was raised in secret in a fishing village on the south coast of Fire. People there didn't like ninja."

"North or to the east of Kinuzu?" Nariko asked.

"North," he said, puzzled at her question.

She and Dana exchanged shrugs. "The attitude would have been similar," she suggested. "More cautious perhaps? Tempered because they are closer to Konoha?" She turned back to him. "There's a spectrum, you see. The closer you get to my hometown, the more … strident the attitude becomes. Like you said, it hasn't been that long since the Warring Clans period. Ninja didn't just fight each other during that period. Clans were mercenaries and could be hired to wipe out a target, such as a village. Civilians living in that village would naturally resent that."

The kid frowned. "Are you saying that a ninja clan destroyed your hometown and poisoned sentiment against ninja ever since?"

"Exactly. The event predated Konoha by a couple hundred years, but it cemented resentment and history just continued to reaffirm it. It's hardly the first or last time something like that happened. And it's not just ninja's fault it happened: someone hired that ninja clan to do it, some lord or other trying to expand his territory. No one is blameless in this."

Dana nodded. "While ninja are perfectly capable of having shadow wars of their own, they are often enabled or made worse by non-ninja action. For our clan, ninja are just a symptom of what is wrong with the world and a tool used to continue a cycle of violence. If ninja weren't available, it would be samurai or regular soldiers. It is the human capacity and reliance on violence that is the problem."

The kid nodded slowly, but his heart wasn't in it. "I see your point, but that's not really my goal. I want ninja to stop using chakra violently. It is wrong. It's not supposed to be used that way. It's meant to be used for shared understanding, for peace."

"It is the same goal, in a way," Dana pressed.

Yuji stood firm. "I think it's great, that you want to spread peace, but I won't commit myself to a goal as big as that. I think I'm overreaching myself as it is. I don't believe that even with your help we can turn chakra into a tool for understanding instead of violence."

Dana looked disappointed, but Nariko nodded and went back to her cooking. "I get you. That's why I'm just focusing on the investment issues. The abuses through money seem petty in comparison, but they're something I feel like I can tackle, a more feasible goal. Don't let Dana or my parents or anyone in the clan try to rope you into promising more than you can reasonably expect of yourself. It's important that goals be achievable so you get to move onto the next goal." She shared a weary smile with the kid. "While all the stories say it's noble that someone died in pursuit of their goal, to me it always seemed really sad. That would suck to not make it to the end and be able to look back and see that you've done it."

* * *

Itachi glanced worriedly across the metres that separated him from Hinata, who seemed to have settled enough over the last two days of travel that they could be within fifty metres of her without the smell of their chakra causing her nausea. It was more than a little unsettling to learn that her increasing sensitivity to the smell of chakra made it obvious that neither he nor Hatake was using chakra in a way that Hinata's nose interpreted as "pure". He could tell her sensei was equally dismayed, but they both gave what space they could as Hinata tried desperately to adjust. Even the smell of her own chakra set her off sometimes, and so they had had to travel much slower than Itachi would have alone, pausing now and again in their path through the canopy to let Hinata retch at the base of a trunk.

Purity of intention was apparently very hard to maintain.

Fire Temple rose before them now, the enormous walls dwarfing even the forest. The trees here were taller even than those in Training Ground 44, and definitely older, since many of the trees around Konoha were created by the Shodaime. Naturally old trees were rare around the village. These trees had _weight_ to them.

Ahead of them, Hinata dropped to the ground and signalled they assemble with her this time instead of signalling that she needed to be excused. Both he and Kakashi waited until her hand was in front of her nose before closing the distance. His brother's friend looked calmer than he had seen her since their team had returned to Konoha. He spared another glance for Fire Temple's walls, this time with his Sharingan active. He could see the thick, calm chakra aura.

"Does it smell alright?" Hatake asked her, watching her closely.

She nodded firmly, her hand blocking their view of most of her mouth, but he could tell she had grimaced slightly as their solicitousness. He knew from Sasuke that she was plenty tired of it because of her eye already.

"What does the temple smell like to you both?" he asked, keeping his tone professional.

Hatake arched an eyebrow at him, but he obligingly took a few deep breaths. "Incense, of course. Dry stone, pine, the tang of metal coins and bells. Rice and sake. Visitors and monks."

Itachi nodded and turned to Hinata. She blinked her visible eye at him, striking him yet again just how appropriate it was that Hatake was her sensei: she was a female mirror of him with her right eye covered and he with his left. Both of them acted a part, though Hinata discarded that persona for now. Shooting him a sardonic look, she dropped her hand and just breathed for a few moments. "It is a pond in the mountains on a clear day—calm and still and full of life."

"Poetic," he deadpanned.

She glared at him. "I'm apparently smelling intent. It does not always make sense. There's the smell of a campfire as well, one made just to give warmth and light and to cook marshmallows over, like back in the Academy."

He nodded, allowing a corner of his mouth to twitch up. "A good place then."

She nodded back stiltedly. "Probably."

"Anything worth seeing?"

"The monks all have very similar chakra—colour especially. The way it moves and circulates is similar in most of them, some more than others. I think it means that they are all trying very hard to think the same way and be similar physically. There are other people in the temple grounds: visitors like Sensei said. Most have almost no chakra—civilians." She paused and frowned. "I… I know him. He's water and earth, and I should know him, but I don't…"

Itachi blinked. "A Konoha ninja?"

"Ye-ess… I'm almost certain. I just can't remember his name. He's not totally suppressing his chakra, but he's keeping his distance and wearing a henge. He must be on a mission."

"Is he in the temple grounds?"

"Yes. He's hiding in a crowd of visitors."

"Can you infer what his objective might be?"

Hinata actually activated her visible eye as well, the first time Itachi had ever seen her bother. She stayed silent for a good few minutes. "He's being careful, so it's not obvious, but I think he's shadowing one of the visitors. He doesn't look like he's preparing to _do_ anything, just watching."

Itachi and Hatake shared a brief look as Hinata kept studying the area. Hatake shrugged and Itachi nodded. "We'll just keep out of each other's way then. Hinata, can you keep an eye on things to ensure we don't interfere with his mission?"

The veins around her visible eye ceased bulging through her skin as her eye deactivated. A brief flicker of activating his Sharingan told Itachi that her eye beneath the patch was still active, as always, the veins concealed beneath the patch and her strategically braided hair. "Hai."

"The front door?" Hatake suggested sardonically and Itachi allowed the barest grin on his face.

"It would be polite."

The trio was soon inside the temple and singling out a monk that looked willing to be interrupted. Hinata was correct though: most of these monks dressed the same, shaved their heads, walked the same, and attempted to wear the same serene expression. This one pressed his hands together before his chest and bowed slightly, and the three ninja mimicked the gesture. "Greetings, Konoha-nin. What errand brings you to Fire Temple?"

"Spiritual questions that we hope the monks of Fire Temple will be able to answer. But first I must pass on Sarutobi Asuma's respects to Chiriku. Is he able to spare us a few moments?" It was a convenient excuse, but it did get them to the warrior monk quickly enough that Itachi felt justified using it.

* * *

Kakashi had agreed to come on this strange fact-finding mission for a few reasons: because his Hokage had ordered him to and he did not argue with Tsunade when she used that particular tone, to keep an eye on Hinata, to keep an eye on a powerful Uchiha that was very pointedly aiming for Hokage, and to figure out Uchiha Itachi. He had only been on a few missions with the man, but so far he still wasn't certain what the man really wanted, especially recently.

Itachi had an odd reputation. He was a known genius, even for an Uchiha, but he had visibly thrown his lot in with Konoha over his clan, starting with his unofficial apprenticeship under the Sandaime. Instead of going into ANBU as those in the know had expected, the chuunin had taken to following Sarutobi-sama around, an unobtrusive shadow at most of his meetings and running around as his aide duties required, fetching or delivering paperwork or messages that needed a face instead of a bird.

The Uchiha had made himself prominent during the talks with both Suna and Kumo, reportedly being a pacifying force tempering Tsunade-sama's attitude. Kakashi knew for a fact his name was attached to the official history of the now-standard Chuunin Exam in textbooks used at the Academy.

An Uchiha peacemaker. It still sounded like an oxymoron.

Itachi had slowly become known for being connected to a few key people: Sarutobi, of course, and then Tsunade until he had seemingly fallen off her radar for a couple years, but also Shisui, his cousin, and then a particular man Kakashi _knew_ was ANBU when Shisui, Tenzou, and Itachi had rented a place together in downtown Konoha, something that had thrown everyone off since it was the first time in years an Uchiha, never mind two as high profile as Shunshin Shisui and Itachi the clan heir, had lived outside the Uchiha compound. It had been interpreted as a sign of a split between the heir and Uchiha. The clan members had certainly started visibly treating him with less reverence.

And then Sasuke had suddenly become the heir. He hadn't said much about it to Kakashi, but he knew his student resented being left to fend for himself at home. He often detected that Sasuke was hanging out at Itachi and Shisui's place, so the bond was just stretched, not broken like the Uchiha were hinting.

And yet, there was Uchiha Mikoto.

Kakashi knew better than to trust anything anyone did when a Monkey agent—no matter how retired and docile she presented herself—was involved.

Or his sensei's son, whom Itachi obviously favoured in some way Kakashi couldn't quite wrap his head around. Tsunade had twice sent Itachi to ultimately deal with Naruto, the second time undermining orders and a team she had initially put Kakashi in charge of. He wasn't sure he was resentful about that, but he was definitely suspicious. He still hadn't been able to get the whole story out of anyone that had gone to the Kage Summit, even Raidou, whom he had casually interrogated over lunch after he had gotten back from Kikai Island and finished being debriefed.

Itachi's actions did not match up with what Tsunade-sama had said to the other Kage at all.

And yet he hadn't heard about any backlash. And here they were, asking a monk probing questions about the Pure Lands, trying to figure out how to keep anyone from questioning Uchiha Madara and Obito (he was not going to think about that—he _couldn't_ think about that, not yet) using a reincarnation technique.

Why? What did they know that Kyuubi deemed so dangerous?

Kakashi was used to not knowing the why—he could usually work it out himself—but in this case, he was missing too many pieces for comfort.

"It is unknown how long souls linger in the Pure Lands and where they go next, if anywhere," Chiriku was saying as Kakashi checked back into the conversation, glad Hinata was here to cover his lapses. "Reincarnation is something we embrace, but the proof of it is scattered and difficult to bring together into a coherent whole. Those who claim to remember their past lives are often guilty of wishful thinking at best. Ninja have had more interaction with the departed, particularly your Nidaime." Chiriku's disapproval was plain.

Itachi nodded with a grimace. "Precisely. There are things Uchiha Madara knows that should never be allowed to be known again, and it is only too likely that he will be someone who would be a target for Edo Tensei, however unwise that might be. Rogue ninja cannot be trusted to be wise about how they use a resurrection jutsu."

"You want to put his soul beyond their reach."

"You have the right of it. Uchiha Madara was such a man that should never walk the Elemental Nations again, especially not by unholy means. If I could make it so knowledge of Edo Tensei or any other jutsu of that kind disappeared, I would, but that is an impossible task."

The monk arched a dark eyebrow at the young man. "And you think forcing a soul to move on will be easier."

"Slightly, perhaps."

"I think—"

Just what Chiriku was about to share was cut off by Hinata tensing and unconsciously spinning to face south. "Senpai, Sensei," she barked, that one blank eye so wide, "something _wrong_ is coming. Two or more of them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you need more than one guess as to who's coming, then it's obviously been a long time since _Naruto_ ended. I'm interested in hearing if anyone figures out exactly what's going on at Fire Temple though. Thanks for reading as always! I look forward to hearing any thoughts you wish to share.


	32. Chapter 32

"Hinata?" Kakashi asked, eyebrows furrowed at his former student's tone.

"Report," said Itachi, his voice suddenly clinical, ignoring Chiriku's irritation at the interruption.

She activated both eyes again and grimaced. "Two men—one of them definitely not just one man, though it's difficult to explain how—coming down the road from the north. They are wearing black cloaks with red clouds."

Akatsuki. Just like— _Not now._

Itachi pulled a book from his pack and tossed it to Hinata. "Check for matches to the bookmarked pages."

His student flipped through the bingo book, studying before she spun the book around, showing them Hidan's page. "Him." She turned the book back around and kept flipping. "And I think the other one (ones?) match him." She flipped the book again to show them Kakuzu's image.

"And you're positive they're coming here?" Chiriku asked.

"Is there somewhere else the road out of the north goes way out here?" Hinata drawled, eyeing the monk with a deadpan stare.

"Of course there is," the monk rejoined with admirable calm. "It connects to the road going back towards the Red City, eventually, just as the road going east would eventually take them to East Port."

"There are easier routes," Itachi said calmly. "It is best to assume the worst when it comes to Akatsuki."

"And what is that supposed to mean to me?"

Hinata tossed the book back to Itachi, who glanced at it before turning it to Chiriku, his finger pointing to a particular line.

"A bounty hunter?" the monk read aloud. He looked a little less certain about the whole situation now.

"I imagine our bounties are more impressive than most," Kakashi drawled, "but I don't think we're expected to be on location. Which begs the question of who here has a worthwhile bounty, Chiriku-san."

The former bodyguard of the Fire Lord grimaced.

Itachi turned back to Kakashi's student. "Hinata, how do you judge their strength and intentions?"

She shrugged. "They're just walking. Not running. Not using chakra, at least not actively. Ambling, or at least Hidan is. He carries an unwieldy three-bladed scythe. I'm not certain how effective that design is. For show, maybe?"

"And Kakuzu?"

"He is the stranger one. He isn't ambling, but he isn't hurrying either. His chakra has five separate identities. Different colours. Four are just on his back, nowhere else."

It felt kind of like cheating to have a Hyuuga around. Kakashi still wasn't used to it, despite the years he had had Hinata on his team. The sheer range of her eyes was just ridiculous. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop whenever she could give them so much warning like this. Of course, the Sharingan was also very useful, but only really once the opponent was already in sight.

"Ten kilometres away?" he asked her.

She blushed slightly. "Three," she muttered to the floor.

"Tut tut. Disappointing, Hinata-chan. Getting sloppy."

She blushed harder, glaring at the floor now. He ruffled her hair until she pushed his hand away, futilely smoothing those delicate braids he had rumpled.

"So, Itachi-kun, how shall we proceed? What are Tsunade-sama's orders regarding Akatsuki now?"

The Uchiha grimaced slightly at Kakashi. "Considering the ultimatum at the Summit, kill on sight seems to be the response she wants. Given our current location though, I am willing to defer to Chiriku's wishes assuming that Akatsuki does not proceed beyond the Temple towards civilian locations."

Chiriku hesitated. "As a monk, I must not strike first. From what you have said though, these men are not to be given the benefit of the doubt. What are we certain they are guilty of?"

Itachi consulted the bingo book as Kakashi leaned back against the wall and hummed. "Well, I suppose monks would not care about attacks on foreign jinchuuriki."

"The group or these two?" Chiriku was impassive.

"Difficult to say for certain, but they were certainly participants in the final bijuu extraction, which killed the carrier. The other Villages weren't so forthcoming about just which Akatsuki members were responsible for the abduction of their pariahs."

"I would recommend either confronting them on the road or evacuating the temple if you will not allow a preemptive strike." Itachi did not sound particularly enthusiastic about either option.

The monk hesitated a moment.

"Tick tock," Kakashi chirped, ignoring how Hinata (though it was hard to tell) rolled her eyes at his quip. Itachi shot him a partly quelling, partly puzzled look, as though he couldn't quite figure Kakashi out. Itachi was right—Kakashi did normally reserve this kind of teasing for his genin team or kohai and treated non-ninja with a little less familiarity. He mentally clamped down on the possible reasons why.

_Not thinking about it._

Itachi obviously had no such mental blocks because his puzzlement suddenly cleared. He regarded Kakashi solemnly for a moment before nodding and turning back to Chiriku.

The monk looked a little off balance. "You truly believe they are dangerous enough to warrant evacuating the temple? There are defences here: if they attack, all the monks will come to the temple's defence."

Itachi nodded towards Hinata. "If Hinata is concerned, then I am as well. Taking on a jinchuuriki is not an easy task. Unless stealth is used—and our information here"—he tapped the bingo book—"does not point to either of these two being at all stealthy—beating a jinchuuriki into submission requires incredible power."

"Hidan is a Jashinist," Kakashi remarked casually. "What does that mean to you?"

Chiriku stiffened. "That cult was wiped out."

"Apparently not entirely. Hidan is reportedly quite vocal about his religion." Kakashi knew some things: Inoichi's reports on what he had managed to get out of Nagato and Konan's heads and what the rest of Interrogation had gotten out of whatever Sasori was had been made available to them before and after their mission to track Naruto down. He knew that Kakuzu hadn't been able to kill Hidan like his previous partners aside from Orochimaru, not for lack of trying.

Chiriku's eyebrows took on an imposing angle. "Jashinists are heathens. They worship some demon."

That didn't sound very promising. It came off almost as bigoted ranting. Kakashi arched his visible eyebrow at the monk. "Facts for those of us that aren't well versed in religion?"

That put the warrior monk back on his heels. "I am not as thoroughly informed as some," he admitted. "But Bansai-sama will know more. Come with me."

When they glanced at her, Hinata shrugged. "They're not hurrying."

Like Kakashi had said, the sheer amount of preparation possible because of the Byakugan was just too good to be true. He knocked on the wooden lintel as they followed Chiriku.

* * *

Tsunade had been alive and a ninja for a very long time. It took a lot to shock her, more than she let on. Many expected her, a woman and primarily a healer, to be shocked at things she had long ago become desensitized to (if only that were true of blood, but it never would be again), so she played on their expectations.

She did not think that anything she did in front of Uchiha Mikoto would be unexpected.

She had never had much to do with the Uchiha Matriarch personally: the age gap between them was wide enough that their social and military circles hadn't overlapped while Tsunade had still served as a ninja in the village, and being Hokage restricted her time to active ninja, medics, and the clan council. Since Fugaku served on that body, Mikoto never showed up for those meetings.

She knew of Mikoto though. She regularly interacted with Mikoto's pawns: her two sons, her various allies among the active shinobi, and her Uchiha clansmen. She wasn't sure whether Fugaku could be classified as Mikoto's pawn—she suspected not, but time did change people and relationships, especially given the precarious Uchiha situation.

Mikoto had been one of the last Uchiha to serve in ANBU until she had retired to give birth to Itachi and play the role of the sweet, docile matriarch. Uchiha Mikoto had not earned her Monkey mask; the mask had merely been an acknowledgment of what the woman was to the very marrow of her bones: a manipulator.

Monkey–17 had started wars and ended them in her time, all in Konoha's favour, not that anyone except two select Dragons knew the details, though Tsunade had been briefed when she had first started nosing around the Uchiha situation. Those missions were so classified that they were not even written in blacked out reports.

According to all reports, motherhood had softened her, made her human again.

Looking into those pitch eyes as Mikoto demurely leaned against the bar a few seats away from Tsunade on the only night out she had managed to sneak herself in weeks, Tsunade wasn't sure she believed it. She decided to test the waters. "You done shackling yourself for that husband of yours? Got sick of bridling yourself so you don't threaten his masculinity?" She deliberately let a slur smear the edges of her syllables, but she wasn't sure it was as effective as she hoped.

Mikoto didn't even twitch. "Tsunade-sama, you seem to have gotten far ahead of me in enjoying the evening!" Her smile was playful and invited her superior in on the joke.

Tsunade scowled, huffed, and kicked the stool next to her out from under the counter. "Sit down if you're so determined to undermine my evening off."

The Uchiha ordered herself some plum wine and chattered inconsequential nonsense until the bartender left them alone. "I wasn't going to bother coming to you," she said, "but Itachi convinced me otherwise."

Tsunade raised her eyebrows. "He must have been quite convincing. I've heard tell that usually, no one knows you're about until after the war is won or lost. Should I be honoured or appalled that you're talking to me instead of subtly manipulating everyone around me into making me make the decision and actions you want?"

The warmth in Mikoto's eyes snuffed out, though her voice retained that joviality. "Oh, you overestimate me. It's so much harder to act in one's own village when secrets aren't really secrets. People have so many expectations, just like you." She went silent, studying Tsunade carefully as she took another sip of her plum wine. "I'm here about a few things, but I will mention just one: Danzou."

Tsunade perked up. "And what interest does the Uchiha Matriarch have in him?"

"I've heard tell that the man is attempting to set a new fashion trend with a strange arm wrapping. I had not heard he was injured, so the particular slant of the rumour provided some traces of alarm."

Tsunade frowned, not quite certain what the Uchiha was getting at. "He could have been injured… I don't believe he was admitted to the hospital, but I don't keep up with all the comings and goings there. He is the kind of man to treat himself to avoid rumours as well."

"The rumours hinted at something much worse. I would like his wound to be checked. I am not certain you are aware of just how dangerous it was for Shisui to decide to move in with Itachi and Tenzou."

That non-sequitur made Tsunade blink.

Mikoto patiently explained a little: "Shisui's life in and out of the village was plagued with sneak attacks. He could go nowhere alone."

"Attacks inside the village…"

Mikoto just stared at her, waiting for her to make the connection.

Tsunade began to grasp that she might have missed one of the layers of the machinations against the Uchiha. "Why hasn't Kakashi been targeted?"

"I imagine it is because he is _not_ an Uchiha. He also sticks out like a sore thumb. He is an _expected_ target, though many would suspect my clan first, assuming we were attempting to reclaim our eye. The first test subject must be carefully observed for long-term health issues. Now that his eye is known to have progressed though…"

"So you want to know what sort of injury Danzou hides under his wrapped arm."

"That would be an ideal first step, yes."

"You realize he hasn't surfaced from his warren for weeks."

Mikoto blinked innocently. "Are you saying he would not obey an order from the Hokage?"

The two stared at each other. Tsunade knew she had not won in that contest.

Mikoto relented. "As much power as the Sharingan grants us, I have always envied the Hyuuga their distance vision. It is a great skill, though their clan perhaps does not value it as much as their depth vision, which allows their most skilled to see the tenketsu. I believe the usefulness of distance vision, especially distance vision not hampered by obstacles the way binoculars limit the vision to just a little slice, would be quite helpful."

Tsunade snorted. "You really think spaces that need to be private aren't warded against the Hyuuga?"

Mikoto shrugged and raised her eyebrows. "Tsunade-sama, I know it has been a long time since you acted as a jounin or a chuunin in the field, but surely you aren't quite so rusty as your words tempt me to believe. You have so many resources, so many that I wonder if you appreciate them." The matron smiled primly. "I have resources as well, so do come to me if you feel I could help fill in any gaps."

* * *

Takashi normally did not, as a rule, stop by his clan compound, such as it was. The Shimura Clan was not like the Hyuuga or even the Uchiha: they were a little less organized in their living arrangements. However, the elderly members of the Shimura did retire to the clan compound.

His mother had done so upon deciding her reflexes were no longer good enough to sustain her ninja career. Of course, it had taken a kunai to the elbow to convince her of that.

"Seriously," Arisa muttered, "the aura of this place sucks."

"Not surprising," he whispered. "All the retired ninja here hate that they're retired."

"Getting old sucks," she hissed before sealing her lips as they walked in the front door, leaving their shoes behind. He took a circuitous route through the manse, using the excuse of hoping his mother was out of her rooms when any of the other retirees hinted at their suspicion that he would bother.

He did actually end up finding her out in the garden, tossing bread at the ducks. Given how he knew she knew that bread could be fatal for the birds, he suspected that senbon would be next and that duck would be on the dinner menu.

"Mother," he called stiltedly when Arisa elbowed him, probably because he had been staring dispassionately for too long.

Those cold grey eyes turned to him and one thinning eyebrow arched. "Takashi. And Yamanaka Arisa. Are you certain you two are not engaging in incestuous relations? I know Arisa-chan is not fond of _us_."

Beside him, Arisa huffed, but she followed him in bowing.

His mother nodded at the respect that was her due and beckoned them closer. "I am surprised you are still in the village, Takashi. You should be out there, putting your slimy talents to use since you do not possess the necessary warrior spirit."

It was the usual insults then. Well, usual for the last few years. He remembered a time from before the years as Mamoru when she had been stern but not cruel and irascible, from before she had retired. He had missed the years in between, the slow slide towards this… "Tsunade-sama has granted me some time with my team. She may send us out."

His mother rolled her eyes. "Your _team_. I see. Those pampered, useless, snivelling brats. All members of this generation are _spoiled_. Gluttons for peace and personal rights. They can't even follow the rules correctly. I've heard them, laughing and joking and playing _pranks_. Disgusting. Pathetic. No wonder Kumo will flatten us in the end."

"They are children of peace, honourable Mother."

"They are useless weaklings who should never have made it to genin."

He hummed noncommittally "Has our honourable clan head been speaking on the matter again?"

Mother nodded decisively. "He is quite right. Only ANBU demonstrates the proper attitude anymore. It's so disappointing that Danzou-sama's program was shut down even after he proved just how much better his training methods were. You can always tell which ANBU were his: they show the proper attitude even now despite mingling with the pathetic regular forces."

"Shimura-sama is quite wise," he said levelly. "I have heard rumours that he was recently injured though, that his arm has been heavily bandaged. Is he not well? Is he not recovering?"

His mother cocked her head and frowned. "Yes, he mentioned that he was undergoing a new treatment. It is for a trivial wound, I'm certain. The sling is just for show: I have seen him move the hand without wincing."

"Recently?"

"Well, no. He has not graced us with his presence for nearly three weeks, but it cannot be remarked upon: he is a very busy man, trying to show our insipid Hokage the error of her ways. I cannot comprehend how she was elected by the rest of the jounin instead of Danzou-sama! She has not been out in the field in decades!"

He could feel Arisa bristling beside him and nudged her with his elbow in turn. "And when was Shimura-sama last out in the field?"

His mother chuckled. "Oh, that is a poor attack, my son. A shadow master of Danzou-sama's level does not need to venture out. We of his clan know he is behind our current prosperity. A Monkey agent could not outmatch his plans."

"Even Uchiha Mikoto?" Arisa quipped and Takashi shut his eyes and suppressed a sigh. She just couldn't keep herself from needling the old woman at least once.

His mother scoffed. "As if an _Uchiha_ could even begin to challenge Danzou-sama. Those traitors only have the reputation they do because of their eyes. Without her eyes, I'm sure Mikoto- _chan_ is quite pathetic. Shimura-sama needs no such crutch."

"Of course, honourable Mother," Takashi said, forcing his tone to be even.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You are so carefully agreeable, Takashi. Is that how you blend in on missions? If so, your skills need work. Such a shame you were never powerful enough to be on the front lines. It is humiliating to have to admit that my only son is a _spy_."

"I apologize, Mother."

She waved her hand at him. "It cannot be helped. It is my fault. I should have chosen better than your father. What can we expect after he was from such low stock. Perhaps if you had been trained in Shimura-sama's program, your blood weakness could have been overcome, but it didn't exist then." She sighed. "I am sorry for that, Takashi. It is too late now, my son. You must do the best you can with what little you have. It is good that you managed to get them to take pity on you enough that you were promoted to jounin, though you do sully the prestige of the rank."

Arisa growled and gripped his arm.

His mother turned to her. "I meant no disrespect to the Yamanaka specialization, Arisa-chan. I know your clan's talents are best put to use as they are, though I am certain you too regret your lack of true combat effectiveness. Kunoichi must be even stronger than their male counterparts, as you and I both know." She nodded sagely and suddenly there was a flurry from the pond. The ducks were scattering, one of their number bobbing with a senbon through the base of his skull. His mother rose and shuffled out onto the pond and fought her stiff joints to scoop the carcass from the water.

She grinned back at him, displaying her yellowing teeth. "Still quite effective. We must keep in practice since the new generations aren't going to be able to protect what is important."

"I'm sure the residents will be happy with the addition to dinner, Mother. You do your heritage proud."

She frowned at him as they made their parting bow, perhaps picking up on his mocking.

"Gods, your mother sucks," Arisa whispered once they were well away, slinging an arm over his shoulders and squeezing him briefly.

Takashi only let himself grimace slightly.

An ANBU agent in a Snake mask dropped into the road in front of them once they were a few streets away from the Shimura manse. They both tensed as they recognized the green designs on that mask and realized just which Snake agent was in front of them. Instead of rasping, she trilled at them. "You escaped too, little ones?"

His heart just about stopped, and the buzz of adrenaline hit him so hard he felt cold. He and Arisa traded terrified looks and aborted hand signs. Arisa took the lead. "Yes, Snake-san. We have escaped. Have you as well?"

"Hmm, yes, finally. I missed the sky so much." Her head tipped back as her gloved hands clutched at her opposite upper arms, hugging herself.

"It is good weather here in Konoha, yes?" Arisa pressed. He was deeply impressed at how steady her voice was if she were half as horrified as he was.

"In Konoha?" Snake slowly lowered her head to look at them again and paused, as though trying to steady herself. "Back already? I thought there was farther to go—"

"No, you have made it back. Are you hurt? Do we need to take you to the hospital?"

Snake's head tilted slowly and Takashi's breath caught, the cold spreading in his chest as she appraised them. Where were her minders? Didn't she usually have some this time of year just for this reason? Beside him, Arisa was tensing as well, probably gathering chakra. Her techniques would be the most effective.

Suddenly, Snake laughed gutturally. "Oh, you are so easy!" Her voice gained back some of that usual rasp. "So much fun. So, did you find clues? Have you found that rat? Will you cut off his tail or will you string him up by it?"

Takashi's heart kept pounding, but some of the panic left him. Gods but Snake–28 was terrifying. There were stories… But she was still so good at her job. And how could you retire someone like her? He could not imagine her like his mother, in a care home. No, it was too terrifying. Better to send her out to kill people (even if some of them probably weren't her target).

"The rat?" Arisa asked carefully.

Snake–28 huffed a laugh. "Danzou-rat. Soon, soon. Would you do me a favour? Do nudge Dragon–1 into letting me be the one to butcher him. I've been waiting for so long," she crooned. "There are so few of them left. Orochimaru got Sarutobi before I could, the bastard. Danzou. Then Homura and Koharu. So little time left. Age might get there before they let me take a crack at them." She tilted her masked face to inspect her gloved hands. "I am wilting too. There isn't much time left. I could 'slip the leash,' if she'd rather."

Arisa looked a little too unsettled by the blatant treason to reply, so Takashi pulled himself together and stepped in. "I am certain Dragon–1 has not forgotten, Snake–28. We will remind him and Tsunade-sama though."

"Good!" she cooed, pinching his cheek. "Thank you! Now run along!" She disappeared without bothering with smoke or leaves.

"God _damn_ ," Arisa whispered. "I am so glad I wasn't on whatever mission did that to her."

They both had heard the rumours though. It hadn't been the mission itself. It had been being a prisoner of war in a world where there was no code of conduct protecting those prisoners, not the way warring samurai clans had a code of honour for their captive enemies. He shivered and hoped that his mother was wrong about Kumo and the nearness of war. "Let's go report before Snake decides we're taking too long."

* * *

Boar–294 adjusted his mask slightly and sighed. It kept pressing his sunglasses against his nose to the point where they left deep grooves in his skin by evening. He'd have to get the shape adjusted again. That would make them happy. He had just gotten his mask replaced, bumping him back to a wooden mask from the porcelain one he'd been wearing for the past seventeen months so proudly.

His peers had ribbed him mercilessly for proving himself unworthy of the upperclass mask.

He was, to all intents and purposes, relaxing between shifts in an ANBU outpost. He supposed he could have been more inconspicuous by not wearing his mask and hanging out at home in Konoha, but he did have a patrol shift after this. Besides, it got him closer to the speculated other entrances into the "abandoned" Root warren.

It also let him pick up his returning spies. Most ANBU agents circulated through this particular outpost at least once every two weeks if not out on a mission. A lot of Horse and Rooster agents worked out of this location, handling supply stockpiling and distribution and research and development respectively.

His species of insect was not particularly useful when it came to combat, but fortunately for him (or unfortunately: Boar division was in charge of village security, which meant lots of patrol runs), he was a good enough ninjutsu specialist aside from being an Aburame that most didn't know he was one.

His dust-mite-like species, while unimpressive in combat, made very good spies, so long as the spying trip was fairly short. Their lifespan had disqualified him from joining the Monkey division as an infiltration specialist had he actually wanted to pursue that path.

He was content with his current role. Silently infesting the stiff former Root agents and anyone even partly suspected of being affiliated with Danzou was a hilarious mission so far.

That was until two hours later when a particular group finally managed to report back to him.

* * *

"Damn, that hurts! What gives, bastard?"

_Well_ , thought Kakashi, _Bansai-san was incorrect._

He knew this because his arm was currently through Hidan's ribcage and the man just looked annoyed as he tugged futilely on that hilariously useless triple-bladed scythe (fitted with a thick cable which made it something like a kusarigama) Itachi had caught up in ninja wire and effectively rendered completely useless just before Kakashi had erupted from the ground and shoved Chidori through Hidan's chest.

Bansai-san had said that Jashinists were fanatical, visited death on everyone around them as a form of prayer, and were otherwise just like anybody else.

Anybody else surviving Chidori through the heart was unlikely.

Well, there was a first time for everything. Kakashi rather wished he had his ninjatou with him now. He felt he should probably attempt a beheading as his next move.

For science, of course.

Hidan let go of the haft and cable of his scythe and reached for something up his sleeve, his movements just so obvious with the Sharingan, and Kakashi decided to cut his losses.

He slapped an exploding tag to Hidan's forehead before ending the Kage Bunshin jutsu.

When the smoke and red haze cleared, Hidan was still standing, but he was missing some of the left half of his face, having apparently put his reflexes to use in batting the explosive off to one side.

Hidan shrieked profanity and bared his teeth so the right side was almost as exposed as his left side, which had no lips or cheek.

Kakashi was peripherally aware that Itachi's wire web hadn't quite managed to snare Kakuzu as intended. The man's black cloak was pinned to his flesh in over twenty locations by kunai, which hadn't sunken into the flesh as they should have. Earth type jutsu of some type affecting his clothes or skin? One had actually penetrated his eye, but apparently hadn't quite gone in the right way to affect the brain as hoped. Helpfully though, the kunai had set his clothes on fire, and it looked like that kunai in Kakuzu's eye was just about to—

Oh, there it went.

Itachi was drawing his ninjatou though, obviously seeing that wasn't enough to put Kakuzu down. Instead of setting himself, he hurled the sword as though it were a javelin at Kakashi, who plucked it out of the air with a grateful nod.

Given that Itachi had already woven three layers of genjutsu over Kakuzu, Kakashi supposed the younger jounin didn't really need the sword.

And then inky black demons wearing masks erupted out of the flaming ruins of Kakuzu's cloak, and Kakashi was no longer so certain.

He suddenly wished that they had brought radios with them, but this was supposed to have just been a research mission, no combat intended, and radios were rare mission equipment. It would have been quite useful to be able to have Hinata able to give them warnings since she hadn't been able to get closer than seven hundred metres from this pair without collapsing into a retching mess. She had only been able to further confirm that there was something so profoundly _wrong_ with both of them that their chakra would probably make her pass out if she got closer.

That curse of Kyuubi's was frustratingly effective. He was truly worried about what would become of his only female student if Tsunade-sama didn't manage to come up with some miracle cure. Hinata couldn't function like this.

Settling the ninjatou into a familiar grip, Kakashi focused with his Sharingan on Hidan, who had finally pulled out a telescoping spike from his sleeve, which extended to be about as long as a short spear. Charging, Kakashi prepared to shift to a one-handed grip and use a kunai or his bare hands to foul the spike's thrust.

He took Hidan's arm off just below the elbow and just kept on going.

Or at least he intended to, but Kakuzu apparently dealt with his weakness to genjutsu by using wide-range attacks. Grey threads speared through the clearing as two of the inky creatures combined and decided to incinerate the road and the surrounding forest.

Hidan's swearing echoed through the ashen wasteland once the roar of the flames died away. Kakashi shared a look with Itachi as one of those grey threads roughly stitched Hidan's arm back on his burnt and blistered body.

The Uchiha looked resigned, his three tomoe spinning in each eye.

Kakashi raised the ninjatou, silently offering to throw it back.

Itachi shook his head and released a summoning scroll from his flak vest. With a poof, a tantō appeared and Itachi took it up and spun the blade a few times before settling it into a reversed grip. That free hand was gathering tendrils of yet more genjutsu, but it was the flare of Futon chakra around the blade that showed where Itachi was aiming to strike the finishing blow.

Kakashi similarly started moulding Raiton chakra along the ninjatou. Best to add an edge and get things done quickly.

* * *

Hinata crouched miserably on Fire Temple's northern wall and watched the fight, breathing through her mouth.

She was useless. Again.

She clenched her fists until her fingernails threatened to break through the skin of her palms.

Rage and bitterness made her eyes sting and her throat ache.

She had never been much of a combatant even with Sasuke's help—she had made it past the Chuunin Exams by the barest of margins, no matter what her best friend and her sensei had said—and she knew she had a career as a scout if she could learn to be anonymous, but it was so galling!

All she could do was sit here and watch as four chakra sources moved independently of Kakuzu, harrying Itachi and then Kakashi after her sensei finished hacking Hidan into pieces that couldn't move enough to be a threat. Her sensei risked himself trying to lure the elemental wights into forgetting about Itachi for just a crucial moment, and here she was—!

"Do you have a bow?" she growled at Chiriku, who blinked at her and nodded to a junior monk, who scampered away.

"We have nothing to cross this distance," he murmured when the runner returned, but she took the recurve in her hands and studied it and the arrows. She knocked one hesitantly and activated her other eye as well to be certain she had all the depth perception available to her. She had shot one of these before—as a member of the main house (for now), she was expected to have at least basic training in the traditional arts—and had always found them lacking. This bow was no exception. The draw weight felt insubstantial. She angled her arms for the optimal projectile distance and loosed. She huffed when the arrow drifted less than four hundred metres.

Stifling a scowl, she handed the bow back. "I shall retrieve the arrow." She mulled over the wimpy, asymmetrical thing as she hopped from the wall and sprinted to the fallen arrow. Glancing back to where she had perched so she could see it in the visible light spectrum, she let the scowl loose. There had to be something better than this.

She would not let herself be a cripple.

Not again.

Away to the north, her two teammates continued putting down the wights one by one, though Itachi having made Kakuzu's brain into paste did seem to have put their continued animation on a countdown.

Unfortunately, she had no way to tell them that without getting close enough to pass out.

Itachi probably knew anyway, though. He wasn't the type to do something so crude without a compelling reason. Sasuke's brother preferred genjutsu and could put down most jounin with just that, so long as a nonlethal end to the fight was allowed. Using Futon's increased cutting power to get an exploding tag on a shuriken through the jungle of grey threads and _inside_ Kakuzu's skull was not part of his usual repertoire.

"Fucking _fox_!" she hissed, squeezing her eyes shut, though she didn't dare stop watching.

Watching, unable to get close enough to help.

* * *

Itachi swept his gaze over the battleground dispassionately, though he felt the guilt heavy inside him as Hidan screamed cuss words at them in a never-ending stream, his unattached head somehow still able to use its vocal cords from amongst the scattered pieces of his body.

Four hearts lay on the ground near those masks and the sludge remnants of the black creatures they had powered. Pulling out a body scroll, he set to cleaning up what little of this mess he could.

So many of those beautiful old trees were just soot now.

"You alright?" he called hoarsely, the smoke lingering in his lungs.

"Mostly unscathed," Kakashi-san called back over Hidan's profanity. "Do you have a spare body scroll? I'll trade you a ninjatou for one."

Wearily rolling his eyes, he pitched a second scroll over towards Kakashi and snatched his ninjatou out of the air and sheathed it after finding it clean enough to pass. He then set to gathering up his abused shuriken and kunai, those that were still salvageable at least. Some had been too close to the explosions and were shrapnel or lumps of metal twisted by the heat. Of this garbage, he gathered the largest pieces in a sack. By the time he finished, Hidan's pieces had mercifully disappeared into the body scroll, which Kakashi-san chucked back at Itachi with a weary eye-smile.

They made their way back to the temple only to find Hinata staring balefully at them from atop the north wall like an overgrown and offended owl. A jerk of her head had them discarding propriety and bounding up to join her on the wall.

"Already finished?" Chiriku asked, voice carefully devoid of emotion even as the other monks murmured with awe or disapproval.

Itachi just nodded.

"It is good that the problem has been dealt with so swiftly." It was probably as close to thanks as Chiriku would allow himself to get. "Are you uninjured?"

Itachi grimaced and held up his arm, revealing the feathery marks of burst capillaries from a wide-area lightning jutsu that had clipped him. "Mostly minor damage. They did not expect to be attacked and we did not lose momentum."

"You must allow us to tend to your wounds. The honour of the temple demands it."

Itachi allowed himself to be led away. All he wanted was to soak for hours to make the guilt subside.

He didn't let himself do so. Within an hour, he was back to interrogating Chiriku and Bansai.

"The soul is eternal," the older monk said. "It passes through the cycles, seeking purity and to ascend. The Pure Lands are just another turn of the wheel."

Itachi narrowed his eyes and tried to filter religion from what they spoke of as facts. It was difficult without any other perspectives to compare it against.

"So you're saying that forcing Madara to be reincarnated again and not recovering memories of his past life is the best bet," Kakashi-san drawled, his damp silver hair drooping.

Bansai-san gestured helplessly with his hands. "Life after death is not well understood. Shinigami-sama or other gods are said to govern the next turn of the wheel: judging those ready to move on to the next trial and providing the mechanism. It is not something mere living men can hope to interfere with!"

"Even if they are shinobi," Chiriku added.

Itachi could see that this was the best they were going to offer. It was disappointing. "Have you any books or scrolls that we could be given leave to study? It would be good to have firsthand sources to draw upon."

"Of course, shinobi-san," said Bansai, who led them to the library and let them loose with a junior monk and a librarian to supervise and assist.

Itachi traded resigned looks with his team and set to reading. He strongly suspected the Kakashi-san would soon be tucking Jiraiya-sama's books inside the books here and reading those instead.

He just managed to restrain a groan.

* * *

"Will you go overland or are you going to book passage on a ship from South Port to White Cove?" asked Nariko, watching Yuji-kun gather the last of his belongings and seal them away.

"White Cove's the closest?" the boy asked.

She nodded. "That's where I sailed from when I set out north all those years ago. It took me weeks to get here."

He grinned at her. "I promise it won't take me nearly so long. Chakra's good for making short work of long distances."

She sighed wistfully. "I envy you that. I haven't been home in over two years: it's too big of a journey over land to make once a year. I miss Kaijin so much sometimes, but I just have to grit my teeth and push through it."

"I miss Kirigishi like that sometimes. I haven't been back in years. I think it would hurt too much to see them all carrying on without my family though. Maybe after I find my mom I'll be able to go back."

"I hope that day isn't far away then." She squeezed his shoulder and got to her feet to inspect the view from Dana's guest room window. Her cousin was doing research for a court case and had left it to Nariko to see Yuji off. The eastern expanse of the Red City sprawled out into the distance, climbing up the foothills in the form of patchwork farms that far out. "Would you be willing to take a bunch of letters for me? Post takes forever."

"Sure, for your parents?"

"And my chain siblings and the rest of my family." She smiled at his puzzled and skeptical look and led the way down to her own apartment. "Feel free to take any food from my kitchen," she offered as she disappeared into her room to fetch the bundle. He was sealing away a package of instant noodles when she returned. "Here."

He raised his eyebrows when he saw the inches-thick stack of letters. "Lotsa relatives?"

She grinned. "You have no idea. Don't worry though, my parents will see that the right people get them. You can just give the whole stack to my mother or father."

"You're kind of making me nervous about visiting your itty bitty village," he said as he made the stack disappear into black marks on his luggage scroll.

"The only person to be nervous about is my mother. You'll be fine; we're pacifists, remember?" Trading inconsequential nonsense, they made their way to the courtyard. "Do phone to let us know you've made it safely, alright?" She gave him a tight hug despite how nervous he made her just before he stepped into the elevator back to the lobby. "You'll like it there, I promise. Safe journey!"

* * *

Mikoto sat at her kitchen table, staring at the black and red case on it. It was heavier than its size suggested, filled with preservative fluid as it was.

It looked so innocuous.

Fugaku leaned against the kitchen sink and frowned at her. "Are you certain? It may be years before Itachi claims them. It would be better to bestow them in the meantime; make them useful, since Itachi's success is nowhere near as guaranteed as you are fond of telling me. You are not god, Mikoto."

"I know that," she whispered.

He let the silence play out between them. "I love you."

She managed a frail smile. "And I love you."

"You are not god. You cannot be god. I am not a puppet. Your children, Sasuke and Itachi, are not puppets."

Wrath rose, sharp and hot, inside. She turned to glare at him, but he held her gaze, mild and calm.

"The Clan is not your puppet."

She bared her teeth at him. "I _know_. You go to the meetings. You make the decisions." _I handle the shadows._

He crossed to her and took her hands. "Konoha is not your puppet or your stage. If I am in charge, why are you stalling me with everything you have? It becomes clearer all the time that you're banking on a false hope."

"It is not," she hissed. She had worked so hard for so many years! Careful, scattered whispers in the right ears had borne such fruit. Itachi was so very close after so many setbacks. "You aren't seeing the whole picture."

It was his turn to hiss. "You always say that. I understand the consequences."

She shook her head. "You say you do, but I can see that you don't. We have this conversation again and again and again. Konoha is more reviled than you will acknowledge. If we show weakness, they will all come for us, all those enemies that have been hiding behind friendly smiles. If we destabilize Konoha—"

"We would restore order too quickly—"

" _No, we wouldn't!_ You _know_ we wouldn't. Coups never go smoothly. We are too reviled. We would prove all those rumours Danzou has been spreading for all these years right. The Uchiha would rule ashes."

"We would show them—!"

"That we don't respect due process. That we care nothing for the system we helped found and that all the other clans have bought into. We would unlock all the grievances that have been suppressed in the name of Konoha." She squeezed his hands until he winced. "We would be the first match, but the chain reaction would never end."

He pushed himself back to his feet and paced away, dragging his hands through his silvering hair. "I am so _tired_. Of all of it. They sneer at me. They spit! And we enforce their peace as they shun us! At council, factions array against me, all those cold eyes—" He turned back to stare at her. "If I could trust myself to keep you grounded, I would unleash you on them, on all of them."

She smiled sadly at him. He couldn't even keep her from plotting now.

"What if we gave the eyes to Sasuke?"

Horror froze her. Bad enough that Itachi needed them, but to inflict them upon her youngest—! "No!"

He smiled slightly at her, as though reassured by her vehemence. "What about me?"

She had known he was coming to this. "No," she whispered. "Please no."

"I could help you, permanently."

She shook her head. "The reactions that would kick off if you, the Uchiha Head, held the power to control thoughts… If would be almost worse than going through with the coup."

"How is it worse than when Shisui held them?" he pressed, sounding so frustrated. Poor Fugaku. He was just not a political creature. He was a lawman. He wanted right and wrong to be clear.

"Kagami's reputation just barely made Shisui safe enough to survive what came at him. Kagami was a compatriot of Hiruzen and the Elders, his loyalty to Konoha unquestionable. Shisui was like Kagami come again, and that alone made him 'safe'. He was never expected to become your heir or to ascend high in the Uchiha Clan hierarchy, and he didn't except for becoming Itachi's pillar. But Itachi made himself visibly divided from the Uchiha, so Shisui was still deemed somewhat 'safe'." She shook her head. "You cannot take his eyes. I cannot be trusted with them. Sasuke can't have them. Who else would you trust them to?"

"It's a _waste_ to keep them on ice until Itachi decides it's safe enough to take them. He may decide never to!"

She nodded, though it hurt to concede the point. Itachi would go blind without an out.

"Who would you give them to, if Itachi's sight wasn't a consideration?"

She paused and assessed. "Can we even bestow them upon someone without the Mangekyou?"

Fugaku paused. "It hasn't been considered as an option before…"

"Let me think on it." She snatched up the box and rose.

He watched her put on her coat and put the box in her pocket with a concerned frown. "Where are you going? That doesn't seem safe—"

"It will be fine," she promised with a smile and then shut the door behind her. Clan members greeted her as she walked towards the compound exit and she made a point of speaking to each one by name.

When she reached the Memorial Stone, Snake dropped out of the canopy and moseyed over to stand near her, hands in her pockets. "Kohai."

"Senpai." Mikoto suppressed a smile.

"A fly tells me that men shouldn't have eyes in their arms. It just isn't right."

So now Tsunade had proof. "It depends on the number of eyes."

"Two."

She suppressed a shudder of disgust before letting a grin part her lips to reveal her teeth. "We'll just have to have someone cut the abominations out of that arm. Something so unnatural can't be allowed to exist."

Snake snickered. "So what is to be our script, Oh Master Puppeteer?"

The weight of the box heavy in her pocket, Mikoto turned a sweet, prim smile on her senpai. "Greed is such a sin."


End file.
